


sentimental

by yetnotyet



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: 2jin - Freeform, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Fluff and Angst, I tried to be funny, Long Shot, chuuves - Freeform, it's a school au kinda, lipsoul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 20:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20031862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yetnotyet/pseuds/yetnotyet
Summary: Hyunjin has a crush.Jinsol has a secret.And everyone feels things.





	sentimental

**Author's Note:**

> I took a long time to finish this so please be kind if there are any errors...
> 
> enjoy!

The magic trio was always together during recess. They had that specific name because it seemed magical for the three to come together in that year, and in that specific school. Also, they were kinda like magic, if magic was what you called being quite popular and attractive.

"I don't know, that just seems like too much drama to me," Sooyoung trailed while shaking her head. "don't you guys think?"

"What do you know about drama, Ha Sooyoung? They could honestly fuck in the bathroom and I wouldn't care." Jinsol had a nonchalant expression on her face. She was just trying to be optimistic about the situation.

"What are we even talking about right now? You guys change subjects so fast, I can't keep up." Hyunjin fiddled with her chopsticks, the food in her plate untouched. She would never get used to the disgustingly bland food they served in that bloody school.

"You can't even remember how you got here this morning, Hyunjin. Why are you so distracted? Is it because of a certain… girl?" Sooyoung teased Hyunjin openly, moving her eyebrows in a suggestive, annoying way.

"We were just talking about that sitch with Teacher Park and Director Kim. They were caught making out in the bathroom - just fucking golden." Jinsol did the chef's kiss with her fingers, laughing. "And Sooyoung, leave Hyunjin be. It's not like she's the only one in this table with an unrequited crush." The blonde circled her mouth with her hands, mimicking a megaphone. "Jiwooooooo~” she teased, earning a death stare her way.

"It's not a crush. I just wanna know why she's alone every recess with only a strawberry Nesquik keeping her company. It's… stupid." Hyunjin took a deep breath, trying to mask her real interest for the girl.

"You've ever heard of self-preservation? She seems to be partaking in it, just saying." Jinsol laughed to herself with that weird laughter of hers, but the overall mood on the table didn't change. "Hyunjin, if you really wanna know what's up with the girl, why don't you just go ahead and ask? It's not that hard."

Hyunjin preferred to stay quiet, just sighing and continuing to observe the mysterious figure that was Jeon Heejin.

[...]

"Alright guys, your designs today were really awesome. Remember, the school design program is limited, so please send your portfolios ASAP if you want your models showcased on the gallery. You're dismissed."

Jeon Heejin stored her materials back on her backpack, sighing heavily. Her inspiration bursts just weren't coming as frequently as she would like, and it was making her legitimately nervous.

"Heejin, can we chat for a bit?" The design teacher called on the girl after she was the only student remaining inside the room.

Heejin just nodded, walking slowly toward the teacher.

"I felt you weren't as focused today as you were in other classes. Is there anything going on?"

She just shrugged in resignation, her line of sight falling to the floor. "I don't know, teach."

"I know your ideas haven't been as strong - that worries me a lot. You were my biggest expectation for the project; you're a brilliant student. You know that, right?"

Heejin just awkwardly nodded, not really having enough energy for that conversation.

"I know you can do it. Just… step out of your comfort zone for a bit. I know it's hard and you don't know many people here, but just try and talk to someone your age. I'm sure someone will like you."

"Thanks, teacher. I'll try." Heejin adjusted the shoulder strap on her backpack, forcing a half-smile, but really just feeling down.

She waddled away slowly, distributing the weight on one foot at a time.

"Heejin!" The teacher summoned her again, and when Heejin turned to face her, a box of strawberry milk was placed in her hand. "You forgot this."

This time, Heejin had a genuine smile on her face.

[...]

Every time Hyunjin arrived home, the first thing she would do was turn on her notebook and look for Jeon Heejin on twitter, the place where she would usually post her clothing designs.

Hyunjin didn't care if her behaviour would come across weird, even disturbing, she didn't care; nothing was going to stop her clicking almost automatically on Heejin's profile. She liked appreciating the girl's designs, even if she hadn't been posting them as often the past few days.

Was the girl out of inspiration? Hyunjin didn't like to think that option was correct, even though it was the most probable one. She was getting worried about her, even without knowing her, and that was odd for Hyunjin. Was she starting to like Heejin?

No, that was impossible. How would she like Heejin if she had never even said a word to the girl?

But the possibility was also growing stronger in her mind the longer she would scroll down Heejin's twitter account. The comments she would make in her head about Heejin's designs (and Heejin herself, sometimes) ranged from saying it was one of her favorites to talking about details only a savvy observer would notice.

"Yeah, I'm being weird," Hyunjin muttered to herself, but she couldn't just bring herself to close the tab. "fuck." She bit her lip, furrowing her eyebrows and trying to make sense of whatever the hell she was doing.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by her ringing phone, incessantly playing _Woo ah, woo ah, woo ah, yeah…_

"_Hey, Hyunjin._"

"Sooyoung? Why are you calling me?" Hyunjin allowed herself to chill, at least a little, hearing her friend's voice.

"_I had an idea that will help us both._"

"Okay, now you're starting to scare me with that tone."

"_Come on, don't be an asshole. Okay, so Heejin's in design class, right?_"

"Yeah. She's one of the best." Hyunjin's gaze returned to the tab open on her notebook.

"_So, that reminds me that the dance project presentation is happening soon. So, I talked to my choreographer, and she agreed to let you join my performance._"

"Alright..." Hyunjin sounded confused, to say the least. "But I don't get how that helps me." Hyunjin had a nervous smile on her face, hoping that Sooyoung wasn't secret under some hard fucking drugs and just tripping balls right now.

"_So. We do the presentation… Jiwoo finally notices me because I heard she loves girls who dance… and you become Heejin's new muse, or whatever._"

"Wow, you thought of everything." Hyunjin remarked, sarcastically.

"_Right? It's gonna be perf-_"

"Are you out of your fucking mind? How do you even know Heejin is gonna be there?"

"_Because she always is! I heard she even based some of her designs on last year's presentations. You know you can trust me and my sources._"

"Do I?" Hyunjin sighed. "Look… fine. I'll do the performance with you. But if you're bullshitting me, you won't live to see twenty-four, or any of Sunmi's concerts for that matter."

"_You can't threaten me with Sunmi. She's been protecting me from years of bullshit._"

"Shut up. Just because she said gay rights doesn't mean she meant yours."

"_Love you too, baby..._"

"Fuck you." And Hyunjin hung up, not wanting to hear another second of that voice. "Fuck, why the fuck did I agree to do this..." She shook her head, questioning her ability to make good choices.

Hyunjin looked back at her notebook, and hoped what she was going to do was worth it, a smile slowly creeping up on her face as she continued to scroll down Heejin's profile.

[...]

Jinsol liked to think that she was free of all the romantic drama that surrounded that school each and every day like Silent Hill fog, but like every other human being, she was a liar. But it was okay, because only one person knew about that lie, and that person, was Kim Jungeun.

"No one saw you?" Jinsol muttered, wrapping her arms around the girl and losing herself to her eyes.

"No one. Jinsol..." Jungeun smiled at her, slowly brushing away strands of blonde so she could see her face properly, so she could stare at how beautiful Jinsol was.

Jinsol could only smile back before kissing Jungeun, who was closing the stall door with the hand that wasn't deeply intertwined in her hair. Jungeun tried not to moan when her lower lip was bitten and she was pushed to Jinsol's lap like the good girl she was.

"You're so beautiful," Jinsol breathed against the skin on Jungeun's neck, spreading kisses all over it, sucking the spot she knew would drive Jungeun crazy, as her own stomach was filled with butterflies.

"You're… so c-cheesy..." Jungeun spoke in a tone that was more air than voice, pulling the girl back to her lips and taking dominance of the kiss.

The door to the girl's bathroom was opened and Haseul, Kahei and Yerim walked in, cheerily talking amongst themselves.

"Jiwoo just won't shut up about Sooyoung. Like, half an hour of the reunion is just Sooyoung this, Sooyoung that… you would think she would realise, right?" Haseul laughed.

"Useless lesbian hour is every hour for her… I just know she's not going to take the first step. I just fucking know." Kahei rolled her eyes, tying her hair up in a bun.

"You wanna bet?" Haseul had a spiffy smile on her lips and a glimmer in her eyes. "Twenty bucks, Jiwoo takes the first step. If I win, you take me on a date to The Red Lobster."

"You guys are already dating..." Yerim trailed, a nervous smile on her face

"Deal. Sooyoung takes the first step. If I win, you take me on a date on the beach."

"I thought the penalty was just paying twenty bucks…?" Yerim was just getting more confused by the second.

"Deal." Haseul took Kahei's hand and shook it.

While that was taking place, Jinsol and Jungeun were trying to calm their breaths so they wouldn't get caught red handed by the cheerleaders. Jinsol now knew that Sooyoung did have a chance and wasn't just grasping at straws, which was great and she was happy for her, but Jinsol definitely was not ready to face questioning about her relationship with Jungeun, worse coming from that trio, and even worse because it wasn't a relationship just yet.

"Guys, did you hear that?" Yerim turned her head, facing the stalls instead of the mirror.

The hearts of the two extremely quiet girls started racing like crazy on the same rhythm, with the only thing going through Jinsol's head being Patrick going WEE WOO WEE WOO and an ambulance on the background, for some reason.

"It's the sound of me getting the fuck out because y'all are weird!" Yerim ran out the bathroom and Haseul and Kahei quickly followed, looking really confused.

Jinsol waited until she could no longer hear steps, and breathed a sigh of relief, finally resting her lungs which were exhausted.

"Fuck, that was a close call."

Jungeun laughed at her expression, wiping sweat from Jinsol's eyebrow. "That really got you good, huh?"

Jinsol looked back at her, falling all over again for that sweet smile. Fuck, Jungeun was just so beautiful. She took her chin between her fingers and kissed her again, this time slower, not wanting to rush that moment in the slightest.

They backed away from each other's lips slowly, but in every other way, were still connected. Their gazes crossed and they exchanged a single thought.

_We're good, for now_.

_For now_.

[...]

The room echoed the sound of one of Heejin's favorite bands (The Strokes, of course, they just have a really cool aesthetic and awesome sound…) while she spun the pencil between her fingers, trying to think of how she would get this thing going. But her head simply couldn't enough creativity to get a design started on paper, no matter how loud Reptilia was playing, no matter how much she _needed this to work out_.

The teacher's words kept crossing her head. _Step out of your comfort zone for a bit._ But just the thought of doing that got her shivering in fear, shrinking into a pod. The anxiety she felt along with the perspective of just talking to someone grew and grew, and when she realised what she was doing, the pencil was already broken between her fingers.

Heejin sighed, frustrated to no end, and threw away the pieces of what used to be a really good pencil. She ducked down toward her minibar and grabbed a box of strawberry Nesquik, hurrying to stab the box with the straw and drink.

"My only hopes are the dance performances. My only hope..." she muttered to herself, thinking of the soon approaching day where the Musical Arts Committee reunited with the dance team to have a collection of performances. Some of her best clothing designs came from inspirations from the choreographies. Heejin just thought the art of moving with your body was fascinating, and the visual aspect was a big part of it.

Usually her inspiration stemmed from odd places. Statement pieces in her designs surged from random objects that caught her attention, or the weather would influence whether the piece was long or short. Heejin wondered what would happen if she ever stepped out a little bit over the picket line; what would become of her designs.

She just felt comfortable, and her designs here usually did just fine. She didn't have a true reason to walk over that scary threshold. Insecurity and terror wouldn't really have a chance to rule over her.

But now, she had nothing else to turn to. The picket line had turned limiting; suffocating. She hated it, but there was nowhere to hide now, nowhere that felt comforting and creativity inducing at the same time.

Heejin finished the strawberry Nesquik, and turned to her computer, opening up twitter.

_jeonheejin: hey moots, can yall give me tips on socializing with locals? i really suck at it lol_

_capromsae: @jeonheejin just approach them and ask for their stan list_

"That sounds… counterintuitive..." Heejin shook her head.

_ryujinss: @jeonheejin oh god heejin please be careful, they might be straight_

"Uh… she has a point..."

_aeongie: @jeonheejin idk you might just get lucky and they say hi to you first_

"That sounds really unlikely. How..."

_jeonheejin: @aeongie how do you know? you seem so sure lol_

She waited for a reply with baited breath.

_aeongie: @jeonheejin lol i just think anything might happen. you never know hah_

"Really…?" Heejin still couldn't be sure, no matter how much the stranger's words made sense. It didn't matter anyway, as Heejin would have to just wait and see.

She pressed her lips together in what seemed to her like a straight line full of uncertainty, and closed her notebook, thinking about the future.

[...]

Hyunjin didn't expect to just go ahead and reply to Heejin on twitter, not in a million years. But something inside her just clicked in that moment, and something told her that just one reply wouldn't hurt; on the contrary, it might even do good. It also was just cute how Heejin translated on social media - edging on an adorable show of ingenuity. It was just… lovely.

Just the idea of that interaction left Hyunjin on her tiptoes, and she knew this wasn't a ballet routine she used to learn as a kid, or a soccer match where the tips of her toes ached in anticipation. The nerves were so extreme that she wasn't able to fall asleep and when she finally managed to close her eyes, it was so early that there was no more space for a wink of sleep.

She headed to school in a zombie state, but her intuition helped with something at least, as Hyunjin didn't forget to pick up a box of strawberry Nesquik from the store.

"Look at her. What the fuck happened? Did you guys practice too hard for the performance?" Jinsol asked, staring at the girl whose eyes were closing every two seconds, performing every action in a state of semi conscience.

"I don't know, dude." Sooyoung shrugged, joining Jinsol in wondering what happened to Hyunjin. "We didn't really practice that hard. The performance is this weekend. I'm a little worried, to be honest. She looks trashed."

And Sooyoung was right, Hyunjin was trashed.

"Hey, I'm still right here, with working ears..." Hyunjin looked up from the table with half-lidded eyes, wanting to punch them for mocking her this obviously.

"The point stands, raccoon. Get it, because they're trash animals?" Jinsol had a wide smile while explaining the joke.

"You're the most disappointing person I have ever been friends with." Hyunjin muttered, lowering her hoodie to cover her whole face.

"Hyunjin, come on. What's going on?" Sooyoung asked, and it was honestly the first time she was this worried about the girl.

"I just lost a full night of sleep, that's all. Geez, don't get your buns up in a hunch..."

That got a full laugh out of Jinsol.

"Can you two just do me a favor? Put this in Heejin's bag." Hyunjin fished the strawberry Nesquik from her pocket. It had a Post-It attached to it:

_this is me saying hi btw_  
_ \- aeongie_

"How much are you paying me?" Sooyoung had an outraged expression on her face. The audacity of this bitch…

"I'm paying you zilch. Just do what I asked, please."

Sooyoung and Jinsol exchanged looks.

_She's not gonna ask twice._

_I noticed._

_Let's just go…_

Sooyoung sighed. _Fine._

"Fine."

Jinsol grabbed the box and read the note, smiling at what it said. It just was so… cheesy. She didn't think her daughter, er, Hyunjin had the ability to do that.

The two started walking toward the Art Department Block, knowing that was where the design rooms were housed.

"Aww, she wants to stay anonymous."

"I don't blame her. It's easier to flirt when they don't know your face." Sooyoung had a sullen expression, almost regretful of something.

"Is that you referencing your situation with Jiwoo?" When Sooyoung didn't respond, Jinsol bumped her with her shoulder, trying to coax an answer out of her. "Come on, talk to me buddy."

Sooyoung seemed hesitant, but then she sighed, and relented the regret in her expression. "I don't know what else to do. Nothing I say seems to change her attitude toward me. What if she really just wants to stay friends? What if whatever I do just comes off wrong and too… forward?"

"Whatever you do, Sooyoung..." Jinsol trailed with a smug smile on her face. "someone's getting twenty dollars and a date."

Sooyoung furrowed her eyebrows. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Nothing..." Jinsol mimicked zipping her mouth shut as they found the design room.

Looking inside, they found it empty of students, but all the bags were there. Luckily for them, the seats always had names, and it didn't take long for Jinsol to find Jeon Heejin while Sooyoung kept watch outside the room, just in case.

It was also pure luck that she did, because while Jinsol was placing the box inside Heejin's bag, the design teacher arrived.

"Hey… teach!" Sooyoung tried not to panic as she maintained eye contact with the teacher, desperately begging telepathically for Jinsol to hurry the fuck up.

"Ha Sooyoung! I heard you're performing this weekend?" The teacher seemed to be oblivious to the ruse happening right then and there.

"Oh, yeah! It's going to be really… exciting, and… energetic..." Sooyoung shook her hands while speaking, trying not to look behind the teacher too much in case she would notice.

"Hahah, I hope you're a better dancer than a speaker!" The teacher tried to turn, but the girl grabbed her and turned her back to the first position.

"Wait, teacher! Have you… have you ever heard of Sunmi?"

Sooyoung finally noticed Jinsol leaving the room, the blonde raising a thumbs-up to warn her she was done.

"Oh, of course. Her songs are quite catchy. I would talk to you more about it but I have some projects to review, so if you would excuse me..."

The girl had an awkward smile on her face as the teacher left her, and even if their mission was complete with no major setbacks, Sooyoung regretted not being able to converse about the holy word of Sunmi with the design teacher.

"Maybe another day..."

[...]

Jeon Heejin still hadn't decided whether or not she would even try to communicate with any human being inside that institution, even while she wandered through the halls with her sketch notebook and pencil. She was still blaming herself for having forgotten her favorite beverage; Heejin really wasn't in an ideal state of mind that came along the roadblock in her creativity.

She really felt small in that moment. Her hands were sweaty and she kept dropping the notebook on the floor; the heat on her whole body was deeply irritating her. She decided to head to the cafeteria to grab something to drink - unfortunately, the school didn't sell strawberry Nesquik, which was disappointing. Really, do better.

The cafeteria wasn't as packed as it usually was during lunch, since most of the students were doing their extracurriculars during these periods. There was a tiny amount of students spread out by the tables, sprawled over notes and computers.

Heejin paid for a box of grape juice and sat at one of the tables, resting her arms and taking away messy strands of hair from her face. She started observing the scenario, the calm and clarity of the environment which was so different from the tense and focused mood of most classes.

It wasn't for nothing that she was scanning the cafeteria, but one girl in particular - apparently sleeping soundly in one of the tables, caught her attention.

Heejin could only see one of her closed eyes because of the girl's position and the dark hair pooling on her face, but it was still easy to see that she was quite pretty. The dark color went well with her facial structure. Her rosy lips and cute, perky nose looked peaceful as she slept. And when Heejin really woke up from the trance to realise what she was doing, she had already drawn the girl, with as much detail as her ability would allow her.

She smoothed her fingers over the drawing's traces, returning her gaze to the girl as she did. Just seeing that one girl made her inspiration come back? Heejin just could not be sure, since it was one drawing of a random girl and not a design, like she wanted. But it was still something.

Heejin signed the drawing and rushed out of the cafeteria, not bothering to finish the grape juice. There were more important things to be done, like going back to her classroom, grabbing her stuff, and heading home as quick as possible.

When she arrived at the classroom, breathing heavily because of the run, she noticed her backpack was not fully closed. Someone had messed with it.

"Oh, no," Heejin muttered, nervous. "please nothing be missing, please nothing..." she opened her backpack wide, searching with her hands to see if everything was there. Everything seemed to be in order. But there was also something extra.

She grabbed the strawberry Nesquik, feeling really confused. Heejin was sure she had forgotten to bring one to school. Was she just… mistaken? But when she looked at the back of the box, it really clicked.

This wasn't hers.

She ripped the Post-It out, and read it.

"This is me saying hi by the way..." she read out loud.

_aeongie._

Heejin furrowed her eyebrows. She had seen that name before, somewhere.

_Twitter._

She put everything back in her backpack in a hurry, and rushed home.

[...]

Hyunjin didn't know in what dimension she was currently in when she woke up in school, raising her heavy brain to see Jinsol and Sooyoung staring at her deeply.

"What time it is?" It was the first thing she asked while she scratched her tired eyes awake.

"Late. Everyone else is gone, we just waited for you because we're good friends." Jinsol smiled, and Sooyoung nodded her head.

"We even got your bag."

"Let's go then. And… uh, did you guys do what I asked?" Hyunjin was quick on the gun; she wasn't going to forget about it that easy, not even after what seemed like a ten-hour nap.

"Who do you take us for?" Sooyoung muttered, clearly distressed. "Of course we did."

"Jinsol?"

"Yeah. It was E Z. Chill out, Hyunjin, everything's gonna work out fine."

Hyunjin got up from the table, still feeling the side-effects of the nap. The magic trio finally left the hellscape that was that school, and even though all of them really wanted to arrive home, Hyunjin was the one who wanted it the most.

The girl was so anxious about it that when she opened the door to her bedroom, she ended up throwing her bag under the bed accidentally; jumping to her notebook, and turning it on as fast as she could.

The same tab was there, opened. The timeline was having a collective heart attack over some comeback teasers, but all Hyunjin wanted to know was why were her notifications suddenly popping?

She clicked the bell, hoping for spam or random retweets or whatever else could rattle the notifications, but what she saw really spun her world upside down.

_jeonheejin: @aeongie who are you?_

"Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh fuck." Was all she could mutter while she tried to make her hands stop shaking. "Do I answer…?"

_hasoomi: @jeonheejin @aeongie u should pay attention to the last performance if u really wanna know. see u there._

"Fucking Sooyoung! I swear to god..." Hyunjin felt she was at the edge of a heart attack.

Hyunjin let herself fall to the floor, reaching for the phone in her pocket and calling Jinsol.

"_Hey, hi, hello, what's up dog? Or cat?_" Jinsol, of course, answered the phone like a weirdo.

"Jinsol." Hyunjin felt like the floor was crumbling under her feet, and she just couldn't reason it.

"_What? Is everything okay?_"

"No, I don't think everything's okay." She could feel her fingers tapping the laminate flooring, trying to calm down.

"_Tell me! Please, tell me what I can do- hey, give that back!_"

Hyunjin could hear through the phone that there was a mild struggle going on.

"Jinsol… what's- what's that? Where are you?"

"_Oh, what? Nothing, that was nothing._" That was obviously a lie.

"Jinsol."

"_It's me!_" That wasn't Jinsol's voice. "_My name's Jungeun. Are you Hyunjin? Or Sooyoung?_"

"The former. Can you put Jinsol back on the phone, please?" Hyunjin rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming.

"_Alright. I will._"

Hyunjin heard another little quarrel before Jinsol got back to the line.

"So what's that about?"

"_I'll explain it later. So, what's up?_"

"Uh, I just wanted to ask you if you can beat up Sooyoung for me. I would myself but I'm way too exhausted."

"_What do you say, Jungeun? Up for a bangarang?_"

"_Oh, yeah, sure._"

"So you didn't go home? Jinsol, you're too old to sneak out."

"_Oof._" Hyunjin heard Jungeun say, and she held the urge to laugh.

So Jinsol's counterpart was the funny one. That made sense.

"_Look, don't go telling, okay? I wanna do that myself._"

"Alright. But only because you're my friend and I like you."

"_Aww. That's the sweetest thing she has ever said to me._" Jinsol sounded touched.

"Okay. Thanks for picking up, Jinsol. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"_See ya, Hyunjin._"

Hyunjin put the phone down, and sighed. Her hands weren't shaking anymore. Her breathing was stable. She didn't feel like she belonged in a Grey's Anatomy episode.

She closed her eyes, and crossed her fingers, hoping the day after wouldn't be too chaotic.

[...]

The dance performances would happen in an hour and Heejin couldn't be more nervous. Alright, fair point; she wouldn't be one of the people up on the stage dancing for art and applause, but she still had a fair amount of nerves compared to them, knowing the interactions on twitter yesterday.

Heejin was sure she wouldn't like to be in aeongie's spot. But she definitely wanted to meet her. Knowing now that she was the one replying to her on twitter, and also the one who gave her a strawberry Nesquik which she loved so much… she seemed like such an interesting, unreachable person. But then again, Heejin was so fucking awkward with others, and there was nothing else to do but try to talk to her and fail miserably.

"Fuck." Heejin muttered under her breath. At least, there was something else occupying her mind, sharing space with the worries and anxiety. She closed her eyes and remembered the girl sleeping in the cafeteria. She was so cute… just, unaware of everything else happening around her; Heejin wished she could feel that.

She waited and waited, sitting in the third row of the theater, her notebook and pencil safely cradled on her lap, and fingers nervously tapping the side of her thighs, waiting and waiting and waiting more with that deep set nervousness in her stomach.

While she waited, on the other side of the stage were Hyunjin and Sooyoung, just right behind the curtains. Yes, Sooyoung was chewed up for her antics on twitter the other day - she deserved that fully. But after that talk, they rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed some more with the time they had left.

"Fuck." Hyunjin muttered under her breath. She usually was able to keep her calm in situations like this, but not right now, apparently.

"We're gonna pull it off, Hyunjin. You nailed the moves when we were practicing. Just bring your mind back to that. Take a deep breath." Sooyoung tapped her on the shoulder, one, two, three times. Hyunjin closed her eyes and remembered the steps, one by one. The tips of her fingers were shaking again. She tried to slow her breathing down; it was erratic, just like her heart.

"I can do this. We can do this." She opened her eyes and nodded to the staff, who were just waiting for a sign to start the performance.

Hyunjin and Sooyoung walked into the stage. The music started playing, slow at first, then picking up pace with every beat. Heejin felt shivers down her spine as they started dancing, mimicking each other's moves with a few key differences.

Heejin soon recognized one of them. It was the girl from the cafeteria, awake and aware this time. She hit the moves sharply, her facial expressions so cohesive with the theme of the song, it surprised Heejin. But she couldn't look away as they continued moving, interacting with each other on the stage in a haunting way; seemingly hurting and holding each other all the same.

When the performance ended and the red lights shining down the stage went out, Heejin finally remembered how to breathe. Her chest was so constricted it hurt, and she felt like she was the one just performing up on that stage, with how tired she felt.

The two girls were now side by side on the stage, receiving the applause, and all Heejin could do was observe them, in particular the one she already knew from before. Her hand worked involuntarily, opening the notebook and starting to draw them, sketching their dark outfits with zero trouble as they stood breathless under the studio lights.

For some reason, the other girl kept pointing at her, and then at her partner in dance, who just looked like she wanted to disappear from Earth. It started clicking in her head.

They were the ones from twitter.

The sleeping girl from the table was aeongie.

It seemed too strong to be a coincidence.

The duo disappeared behind the curtains before Heejin could discourse further about their identities. Heejin looked down at her sketch after the crowds had dispersed, thinking about how cohesive it became with the theme of the performance she had just watched. She lowered her head into the page and closed her eyes, wanting to somehow express all existing emotions at once, but holding it in.

A tap in her shoulder made her look back up, and there was one of the girls from the performance.

"Hey. You're Heejin, right? I'm Sooyoung." The girl had a bright smile although her make up was already messy from the performance. "I'm the one who mentioned the performance on twitter."

"Yeah… I remember." Heejin nodded her head, taking the girl's hand and shaking it.

"Hyunjin is backstage, if you wanna go talk to her. I think she wants to talk to you too." Sooyoung pointed to the backstage entrance, which made Heejin a little nervous. After all, things were starting to click into place.

"I'll see you later." Sooyoung tapped her in the shoulder one last time, and headed out.

Heejin closed her eyes for a moment, trying to psych herself into believing this wasn't going to be hard at all, breathing in and out to anticipate just how nervous she would become when seeing the girl. She started walking toward the backstage entrance, heading inside and marveling at all the technical equipment in every corner. She had never been behind the scenes, after all; always in front of them.

Hyunjin spotted her first. "Hey. Uh, did Sooyoung introduce us?"

Heejin had a nervous smile on her face. "Yeah. She did."

"Sorry for being cryptic on twitter. I didn't… know how else to do it." Hyunjin seemed embarrassed, which was relatable to say the least.

"How did- how did you know I like strawberry Nesquik?" The question just came out of Heejin's mouth before she could think about it. And she was, indeed, curious about it.

Hyunjin looked down, not knowing how to respond to that without seeming creepy about it.

_I might as well just tell the truth. I'm doomed either way._

"Uh… I always see you carrying one of those, so… I thought you would like it. I- I didn't mean to be weird, I-"

Heejin rushed to, well, to shut her up. "Hey, it's fine. I know I'm weird and quiet, and whatever."

The girl shook her head, a small smile adorning her face. It was cute.

"No, not at all. You're fine, Heejin."

"And you're cute."

Their faces were both red.

Hyunjin cleared her throat, looking around for something to distract her enough from Heejin's decidedly fearless gaze. "So… did you like the performance?"

"I thought it was awesome. You're a really good dancer, too."

"Thanks." Hyunjin tried to search in her head for other topics to bring up, but it was like the inside of her mind was one of those Wild West scenarios with absolutely nothing but dust and desert. "Oh, uh… hey, how about you give me your phone number? I could call you, or send you a message."

Heejin lit up like a pine tree on Christmas. She was so, so glad that she wasn't the one to have to ask, because it would have been a disaster, to say the least.

"Sure!"

The girl handed her phone to Heejin, who typed in her digits, feeling a little shy under the circumstances. She handed the phone back to Hyunjin, whose reaction was to mutter nice under her breath, not aware that Heejin had heard it.

"So, uh, I'll… see you around?" Heejin asked tentatively, hoping their next interaction wouldn't take a blue moon to happen.

"Yeah!" Hyunjin smiled, her eyes lighting up in adorable half-moons that heavily contrasted her overall look, and the only thought crossing Heejin's mind was wow, the duality. "Wait! Let's take a pic. To remember this day."

Heejin's quick reaction was to nod, trying to do a quick peace sign as the girl raised her phone and took a picture. It came out nicer than Heejin expected, too, but that was just because Hyunjin looked really attractive in her outfit and Heejin didn't have to force a smile like she usually did.

And later, when Hyunjin asked if she could post the picture on twitter, Heejin didn't quite understand why she was so quick to say yes, but she thought it had something to do with the way the girl made her laugh by captioning it with I met the legend today guys, she's as pretty as she is nice.

Just as quickly, Heejin started to wonder whether she could deny the crush she was developing for Hyunjin or if it was too late for that.

[...]

Ha Sooyoung's usually stone cold heart was beating heavily inside her chest while she walked toward the exit to the theater, looking for a certain someone. She hoped the glitter dust in her face wouldn't start bothering her sight; it was really important for Sooyoung to be able to see properly because Jiwoo was kind of a visual experience once you looked at her.

She finally spotted the girl, walking over as she talked to one of the cheerleaders excitedly about something. Well, Jiwoo was the president of every single club in that school, so it made sense that she would mingle with every single living human being inside that school.

Admittedly, it made Sooyoung a little jealous. Just a tiny bit, nothing major to worry about; but enough to set Ha Sooyoung into unease at the prospect of losing Jiwoo to someone else.

She hoped the messy hair wasn't going to condemn her too much as Haseul finally noticed her approaching and mentioned it to Jiwoo. It caused the girl to look back and explode into a beaming smile that could outshine the sun. And you know the sun is pretty bright. Sooyoung hid her hands behind her back when she noticed they started shaking, but dismissed them as just post-performance nerves.

"Hey." Sooyoung said simply.

"What's up Sooyoung, great performance. Who's your choreographer?" Haseul inquired, the sharpness in her eyes trying to decipher Sooyoung at all costs.

"It's a secret." She smiled, hoping the short-haired girl wouldn't see the cunningness behind it.

"Oh, well. There was an attempt. I'll just go ask Hyunjin, then." Haseul stepped away with a smile of her own, crossing her fingers that Jiwoo would respond to her heavy suggestion of _do something bold for a change_. After all, she wanted those twenty bucks, and most importantly, the date.

"Good luck with that." Sooyoung laughed, knowing the only two people who knew that information were herself and the choreographer.

"The performance was great, Sooyoungie! It was really captivating." Jiwoo finally remarked, with the same beaming smile on her face. "What was the inspiration for it?"

"Hm..."

_Well, maybe it's the conflict of me loving you and being happy with it despite not knowing whether you feel the same, or maybe it's the fear of what might happen when school is over, because as much as I hope we stay near each other, what is more likely is that we'll just grow apart as the years go by and nothing I do will change that, because you'll be away in a city like New York and I'll be broke and alone and probably unhappy too._

Suddenly, Sooyoung wasn't nervous any more.

"I don't know for sure. It just came to me while I was listening to the song."

"Well, believe me when I say I clapped the hardest!"

"I believe you." Sooyoung took her time to brush away an almost invisible strand of hair from Jiwoo's face, looking deep into her eyes as she did. For the two, in that moment, there was nothing else. Their hearts were racing but they would not do anything about it; they were laser-focused on each other, and hey, hearts are supposed to do that.

"Do you-"

"Can I-"

They muttered at the same time, leaned in from laughter at the same time, and ended up hitting their heads together. It was comical, really, except for the pain, which was annoying.

"OH MY GOD! Ugh..." Haseul protested to herself in the background, earning looks of curiosity from others, but she didn't care. "So fucking close..." she sighed. Sorry, Haseul. I know you must be disappointed.

She was.

"You can go first, it's alright." Sooyoung nodded, urging Jiwoo to say what she was going to say.

"It's, uh, I wanted to- I wanted to ask you if want to come watch this movie with me..."

"Oh!" Sooyoung lit up.

_Wait. Does that mean…_

"It's not a date or anything..." Jiwoo scratched the back of her neck, looking down.

_No. No, I can't take that._

"But I want it to be." Sooyoung responded, a bit more serious than she intended to. Right there and then, it seemed like the only proper way to get her message across.

She tried reading the girl's expressions, seeing what her reaction would be. To her credit, Sooyoung didn't think it would work as well as it did.

Jiwoo's entire face brightened to the point where you couldn't see her eyes anymore. She leaned forward and hugged Sooyoung as hard as she could, and Sooyoung hugged back just as quick.

"Send me a message with the details, okay?" She muttered, oddly close to Jiwoo's ear, and the girl's face heated up immediately.

Sooyoung backed away from the hug, giving Jiwoo a last poke on the cheek before walking away until she was out of sight.

She hoped it wouldn't be too weird to watch as she jumped up and down with her eyes closed, taking deep breaths and trying hard to not dismiss what had just happened as a dream. Because, well, she couldn't believe what had happened was real.

Sooyoung finally started questioning whether hearts were supposed to keep doing that for so long.

[...]

Hyunjin wasn't the type of person to lose her perception of time while thinking about something, or, well, someone. But, apparently, there was always an exception to the rule, sooner or later, to change whatever she thought of herself.

And who else to be that exception than Jeon Heejin? It's not like Hyunjin had stopped thinking about her in any given moment. That feeling, like fire, was just getting stronger instead of whittling out.

Hyunjin was, once again, spread out on the floor; her favorite thing to do when she needed to think. It reminded her of her childhood, when she would splay herself on the green grass after playing for way too long and feel the blades poking her. It was strangely calming, except for the ants; those weren't calming at all.

The light of her phone shone down on her face when she unlocked it and opened the contact list. She just couldn't stop thinking about Heejin, no matter how much she tried. For a couple of seconds her finger hovered over the green call button. Why was she so hesitant? It was just a phone call. They weren't getting married or anything.

Hyunjin clicked the button, and placed the phone on her ear, trying to control her breaths. After all, she wouldn't want Heejin hearing her sound like an asthmatic maniac on the line.

"_Uh, hello?_"

"Heejin? It's Hyunjin."

"_Oh, Hyunjin! I wanted to call you first, but then I remembered I didn't have your number._"

"Ah! Sorry, I should have given you my number too - guess I just forgot."

"_Yeah… well, my teacher said I should step out of my comfort zone, so… this is fine._"

Hyunjin couldn't help but smile hearing Heejin's voice. It seemed like yesterday where she would just obsess over her twitter account and now they were practically friends.

"Well, I guess it's a teacher's job to encourage us like that."

Heejin laughed. "_Yeah, I guess so. But this is not as hard as I imagined it would be. It's… pretty chill, actually._"

"So I'm not so bad, huh?" Hyunjin played around, feeling a little more comfortable to tease Heejin. She didn't know where that sudden courage was coming from, but she wasn't about to let it go to waste.

"_Hah, that's what I wanna find out. So far, the impressions are good._"

Hyunjin smiled, raising a fist in the air and thinking success!

"So, what are you up to right now?" She asked, curious about whether or not Heejin's inspiration had returned.

"_Well, it's funny… I was trying out some ideas for a design, and I think I finally have something going. I'm not sure about it yet, but it might be my saving grace_."

"I hope it works out alright for you, Heejin. I'm cheering you on, whatever happens."

"_Thanks, Hyunjin. That means a lot. You know, the performance you guys did actually helped a lot, too._"

"I hope I didn't scare you too much with my facial expressions."

"_Hm… I don't know if scared is the right word?_"

Hyunjin sat up now, resting her back against the side of her bed. "What then? Suspicious? Curious?"

"_I… I-I don't know if I should say it..._"

"It's okay, Heejin. Nothing you say will change my mind about you."

_Well, depending on how you say it_, she thought, but didn't verbalize.

"_I kinda felt… hypnotized. You kinda- kinda put me on a trance. Like I was stuck in time_."

Hyunjin stayed quiet on the line for what seemed like a minute. The image she was picturing was nothing short of dreamy as she brought herself back to the stage.

Except she was the only one up on the stage. She was dancing that mystifying choreography alone, and the only person there being able to see it was Heejin; with galaxies in her eyes, locked on Hyunjin and nothing else.

She was having difficulty breathing, but this feeling of out-of-breathness was euphoric instead of suffocating. The emptiness in her lungs was almost getting her high. It was a feeling she couldn't describe accurately with words.

"_Hyunjin? Are you okay?_"

"O-oh, yeah- yeah… I'm fine. Sorry, Heejin, I gotta- gotta go, I just heard my mom call me to dinner."

She was still breathless as she put the phone down.

[...]

After hearing her phone beep with the sound of an ended call, Heejin put the phone away. She brushed her hands through her hair, sighing deeply.

"I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have..." Heejin muttered under her breath, kicking back to her pens and sketches. Some were practically finished and just needed a few adjustments. Others were halfway there and she was pretty sure she was going to be able to finish them within the next day or so.

_Maybe Hyunjin is gonna like this one._

She was looking at the sketch like it was already finished. Well, in her head, it was finished; a velvet long sleeve dress with shiny stones adorning it across the chest and waist, highlighting the fabric from top to bottom. If anyone would look good wearing it, it would be Hyunjin.

Heejin unlocked her phone and opened the picture she had saved, the one they had taken together. She wondered if Hyunjin got as much please date and have babies as she did. Heejin also wondered if it was as embarrassing for Hyunjin as it was for her. Well, she guessed it was their fault stan twitter wouldn't leave them alone.

She checked the hour on her watch. It was almost eight, and a violent gust of wind was breaking inside her room. She reached the window and closed it, but not before letting some of the cold wind hit her warm face. Heejin remembered something else, and sat back down on her desk, opening the sketch notebook atop and browsing through until she had found what she wanted.

It was on one of the last pages; the drawing of an asleep Hyunjin. Her fingers traced the main lines, remaking the paths her hands had drawn before, smoothing down her fingers over the sleeping portrait of her, making Heejin relive the moment in her mind.

It reminded her of the dream. The one where the vision of Hyunjin's closed eyes wasn't that far away. Actually, it was right in front of her, as real as her own life. Heejin was sitting right in front of her instead of a few tables back, her hand not hesitant to brush through her hair even if in real life, she wouldn't have considered the action in a million years.

Her subconscious got frightened when Hyunjin's eyelids opened slowly, but the dream kept happening. Her eyebrows and eyes scrunched in an attempt to shake off sleep, a low grunt escaping her lips.

The Heejin in dream let out a small laugh, smiling. She traced Hyunjin's eyebrows, getting another grunt and a hand in her wrist, which pulled it to use as a pillow. The girl got comfortable, closing her eyes again, the corners of her mouth going up slightly in a smile, but nothing Heejin wouldn't notice.

She shook the memory out of her brain to make it disappear. People would usually say we forget dreams quite quickly, but Heejin was under the impression that this one would be an exception, because it did not matter how much she tried to fade it out of her head; it would not go away.

Heejin still didn't know what it meant, if it actually meant anything. What she indeed knew, was that it was difficult to keep everything she was feeling wrapped up and secret.

[...]

Jungeun, although she was new and weirded out by school, fortunately didn't take long to adapt. Maybe it was because a lot of people there thought she was attractive; but she didn't care if they would have taken her as their own or not. The one person she really cared about in that school when it came to opinions of her was already pretty familiar from the get go.

She remembered the moment when she had met Jinsol. Jungeun had just arrived at the school, not knowing exactly what she had to do, trying to find the administration so she could locate herself inside that scary, large building.

Jungeun ran into her accidentally, shooting excuses like she knew no other words but I'm so sorry, and immediately got starstruck by the blonde's smile, who didn't look like she cared to be bumped into.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..." Jungeun begged, getting back her things which had been scattered on the floor because of the collision.

"It's okay, it's okay!" The girl laughed while she helped, and it didn't take long to realise that the blonde was a senior at the school. "Are you alright?"

"Ah, yeah… sorry again." Jungeun refused to look her in the eyes for more than three seconds, embarrassed to no end.

"Like I said, it's okay. No need to apologize. Do you need any help? You're new here, right? I don't remember seeing you."

"Ah, yeah… I'm fine- really." Jungeun felt overwhelmed with the girl's questions. This was only her first day, after all.

"Come on. Let me help you. I'm not gonna let a pretty girl like you go around the halls alone. What if you just barrel into someone who's not nice? That wouldn't be good. Come, take my hand."

It didn't take long for Jungeun to be convinced by that smile; the casual, flirty nature of the blonde won her over way too quickly. She took her hand and let the blonde guide her through the school - it was a pretty good thing, now knowing most of the school by memory.

Since that day, they started developing an odd relationship. Where physical touch was king, but actual relationship labeling and discussion were not. Jungeun did want an actual, public relationship, but she was too afraid to say it for the fear it would ruin what they had now. And what they had now was good; it was easy (apart from the constant fright Jinsol would just get tired of her, because Jungeun didn't think she was special).

Fortunately, Jungeun had been saving her courage for months now, waiting for an opportunity to change things. And the opportunity presented itself an odd way - Jinsol's birthday party.

Jungeun wasn't going to let that opportunity go to waste.

Suffice to say, she was silently looking forward to it.

[...]

The magic trio was, once again, reunited.

"Are you guys excited for the party?" Jinsol asked, brimming with energy herself.

"I'm going to be fashionably late, so don't be mad." Sooyoung had an anxious vibe to her, which was a first, but of course there was a reason.

"Oh, yeah, your date with Jiwoo! Don't come to my party unless you're holding hands." The blonde lectured, which earned an eye-roll.

Hyunjin, meanwhile, was quiet and thoughtful, a reoccurring mood for her. "A party… I don't know if I'm up for it, honestly."

_I would prefer to lie in bed, wrapped in blankets, and watch Good Omens._

Jinsol stared at her, confused. "What? But you were super excited when I told you about it? Come on, Hyunjin! I was counting on you to be there!"

"Why don't you invite Heejin?"

It was such a simple question coming from Sooyoung, Hyunjin got surprised she didn't think about it first.

"Is that a good idea?" She wondered out loud.

"I don't know, you tell me. You're the one who's been talking to the girl for a week now."

"Oh yeah! How is it going with Heejin?" Jinsol brightened back up, smiling at Hyunjin and waiting for an answer.

Hyunjin asked herself the same question. _How is it going with Heejin? I honestly don't know._

"I think we're friends," she chose to say, carefully picking her words because of the fear they would be easily twisted. "but I don't know much else. Her teacher told her to step out of her comfort zone."

"That's a good thing for you, isn't it?" The blonde inquired, her eyebrows doing that funny thing. "If she really wants to step out of her comfort zone, my party is the best place."

Hyunjin wasn't sure if she liked that kind of assumption, particularly following it to its logical conclusion. She wasn't totally sold on the idea of forcing Heejin into a mayhem just for her own personal gain.

She was fine with taking things slow, for now.

"I'll think about it." Hyunjin muttered, taking a sip of her water. "Besides, don't you think you're the one getting comfortable, Jinsol?" She was the one to tease this time, and the way the blonde's expression changed was stupidly amusing to her.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sooyoung leaned in, staring at them intermittently with curiosity. She wasn't in on the gossip, yet.

"Soon, all will be revealed, Sooyoung." Hyunjin chose to word the sentence as ominously as possible, watching with glee as the two exchanged glances of defy toward each other.

The only thing Jinsol was able to do was mutter _you'll know when you do_. The tease by Hyunjin reminded her of how much was chaos inside her head. There was nothing but chaos there; all her brain cells were gone.

Since the day Jinsol knew herself, she was the one who would help others with no hesitation. That included all the lost kids in Bio, _ahjummas_ carrying their groceries, and even people who needed help with confessions; Jinsol was their go-to girl whenever they needed a hand.

And that way of handling things hadn't changed when she met Jungeun, but she couldn't deny there was something different about her - something that made Jinsol want to protect her from all the evil in the universe, something that made her hold onto Jungeun and never let go, not for a measly second.

These feelings were starting to scare Jinsol, because before Jungeun, there was absolutely nothing holding her down; she was floating in the galaxy until the girl grounded her with no warning.

She could not even remember how long they were "together". Three months? Four? The only thing Jinsol knew, was that she was starting to miss her.

After recess was over and class was back, the first thing she did was ask professor Park for a bathroom break. But she wasn't going to the bathroom.

Jinsol walked down the halls in a mix of quick steps and long strides, determined to see the girl she was falling so deeply for. She knocked on the door, and professor Kim opened it, glasses sliding down her nose.

"Jinsol! Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"

"It's okay, teacher. Uh… the principal is calling Jungeun in his office. Can I take her?"

"Jinsol..." The professor furrowed her eyebrows, doubting that Jinsol was telling the truth, but she nodded her head anyway. "Kim Jungeun, would you please come to the front."

"What is it?" She approached the door, feeling apprehensive.

"Apparently the principal is calling you to his office."

Jungeun looked panicked as fuck hearing those words; after all, why would the principal call her to his office unless she was in some deep shit?

She looked at Jinsol, starting to question things. "Okay..."

The two left for the halls, but not before receiving a suspicious glare from professor Kim.

Jinsol took the girl's hand, quickening the pace, feeling extremely happy.

"What does the principal want with me?" Jungeun asked, still confused as all hell.

"Nothing." Jinsol giggled, practically pulling the girl up the stairs to the second floor.

Jungeun looked at her with concerned eyes, silently judging the blonde. "Jinsol. Did you really get me out of class for your personal needs?"

But even if she was lecturing her, Jungeun couldn't help but feel her heart start beating faster.

"Shh."

And Jinsol dragged inside the single use bathroom this time, taking into consideration the last time they had met in a bathroom.

Jungeun laughed when the blonde pulled her into her lap, her hand automatically reaching for her face and caressing it. She did not deny loving these moments where it was just the two of them and no one else. Moments where she could get lost in Jinsol's eyes just as easily as she would get lost in a maze.

They started a slow kiss, Jinsol's lips fitting into hers, hand slipping into the back of her neck and making her shiver. There was something in the way the blonde would kiss her that was just… different. Like she never wanted to back away from her. Jungeun just… loved that.

"I should've told you sooner." Jinsol whispered, her forehead against hers, their noses brushing.

"What is it?" Jungeun asked, still breathless.

"I love you." Jinsol stared deep into her eyes, trying to be honest with the truth her heart was telling her, and she realised Jungeun felt the same way when the girl smiled, her eyes gleaming and her hand sliding to hold her chin between her fingers, keeping her eyes on her.

"You don't know how much I've waited." Jungeun whispered back, leaning in again and pecking her lips, once, twice, three times, smiling against Jinsol's mouth.

"Actually, I do. I've- I've just been a coward, Jungeun. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting."

Jinsol stared down, feeling embarrassed. Her heart was running a mile.

"Hey. Hey, look at me. You're not a coward. It's okay, Jinsol." The girl smiled, fighting against the urge to pinch her cheeks.

"Okay. I… I think I should take you back."

And Jinsol got up after Jungeun, intertwining her fingers with hers, guiding her along the school like she had done months ago, but now with a lot more confidence in what she was feeling.

[...]

After a period of time, Hyunjin actually started considering inviting Heejin to Jinsol's birthday party. Not just because she really wanted to see her again, but also because Hyunjin was starting to sense something major would happen in that party. Maybe even more than just major.

Hyunjin would not say she was a person who believed in destiny. But there was something drawing her to that party, and probably Heejin too.

She fished her phone from her pocket, heading directly to Heejin's saved number in her phone and calling her with no hesitation whatsoever. They still hadn't talked much, but Hyunjin felt like she could talk about anything with the girl.

"_Hello?_"

"Hey, Heejin."

"_Hyunjin? Hey. What's up?_"

"I'm good. Uh… I was- I was thinking if you want to..."

"_Yeah?_"

"If you wanna come to Jinsol's party with me. It seems like it's gonna be fun, and we could hang out."

Hyunjin didn't know why the thought of being near Heejin again made her ears warm up so much.

"_It sounds cool, but… I don't know. I'm not very good at crowds.._."

"Sure… if you really can't, well… what if I stay by your side? At all times?"

"_At all times?_" Heejin sounded doubtful. "_Are you sure? You know I'm gonna hold you to that promise._"

Hyunjin laughed, finding Heejin's tone adorable. For a girl who wasn't much of a speaker, she really did know how to get into her head.

"You should. Because it's a promise. But then, you have to promise to never leave my side, too."

There was a wait of a few seconds before Heejin answered. "_I promise._"

"I'll send you the details. See you there." Hyunjin was smiling like an idiot.

"_I'll see you there._"

When Hyunjin put down the phone, she was a grinning mess. "I'm such an idiot..." she muttered.

An idiot in love.

But she felt strangely protective of Heejin too, for some reason. Hyunjin didn't know if it was because she was a pro in doing general sweeps of the girl's tweets, but Heejin just seemed so… alone. Yeah, she was generally popular on twitter, but being popular on social media wasn't a good measure of in real life popularity, as much as people wanted it to be.

And in other ways, Hyunjin thought Heejin was pretty similar to her. Just, someone trying to put herself out there in the best ways she could. Someone with good intentions, with a good heart and a good head on her shoulders.

Once again, Hyunjin's phone rang, breaking her train of thought.

"Hey."

"_Hey, Hyunjin. So, you were able to invite her after all._" Sooyoung remarked in a nonchalant way, but she seemed glad all the same.

"Wait. How do you know?"

"_Heejin is asking on twitter what are you supposed to do at parties. I don't think you should answer that one, don't want to embarrass her_."

Hyunjin laughed to herself, picturing a confused-looking Heejin reading all sort of meme replies and getting even more confused.

"Can she get any cuter?"

"_I hope not, I don't want to lose you to a heart attack. So, how the hell did you convince her, anyway?_"

She wondered if it would be good for her sanity to tell Sooyoung, and then decided, hey, why the fuck not?

"I… promised not to leave her side."

"_Wow. You're dedicated, I'll give you that._"

Hyunjin rolled her eyes. "Okay, shut up. To be honest, I'm kinda worried about this party. I hate not knowing what's gonna happen."

"_Don't worry, Hyunjin. Everything's gonna turn out fine._"

Yeah, she sure hoped so.

[...]

The day of the party arrived in the blink of an eye. Every small worry that could spark inside the school was easily dismissed by the thought of the party soon happening… unless that worry was about the party itself.

Boys and girls openly commented on the hallways about their expectations, and the people who knew Jinsol were wishing her a happy birthday and promising to try and arrive at the party early (although no one really expected them to fulfill that promise). After class, Sooyoung would go out with Jiwoo to watch "the movie", which most people theorized to be Booksmart, rightfully so.

Haseul and Kahei already had their outfits ready and matching; they were going dressed as the M.I.B in honor of the new movie coming out. By then, Yerim was getting tired of hearing the two argue about who was the hottest in the movie.

"Obviously Tessa Thompson is hotter." Haseul commented, naively thinking Kahei would finally agree with her.

"Chris Hemsworth. Case closed." Kahei stared at her, silently rebutting her girlfriend with her eyes; _the battle's not over._

"Tessa Thompson in a suit. I swear to god if you don't agree with me..." Haseul rolled her eyes so far back she couldn't see anymore.

"He has an accent."

"Okay, okay! They're both hot! Bisexuals win! Shut the hell up you two!" Yerim got between them, pushing the two away from each other and sighing.

Poor Yerim.

Jungeun and Jinsol were all over each other from - that day - forward, which peaked the interest of everyone around them. Hyunjin was wondering about what had happened to the two, but the sentence she had used with Jinsol before came back to haunt her.

"Don't you think you're the one getting comfortable?"

Jinsol had a wicked smile on, knowing that tease would completely destroy Hyunjin. And she was right.

Hyunjin should know that she shouldn't play with fire, unless she wanted to get burned. And after all, Jinsol was absolutely correct; she still didn't know how to deal with parties, much less the upcoming one. She didn't even know what she was going to wear.

The hours passed before Hyunjin could notice, and the bell announcing the end of the day's classes rang in her ears.

"Bye bitches, I'm gonna meet Jiwoo!" Sooyoung sprinted away toward the hallways, in an energetic hurry that only made sense because of the date.

"Geez," Jinsol remarked, shaking her head and observing the floor as if Sooyoung had left drift marks on the ceramic. "I'm leaving too, Hyunjinnie. Take care, see ya at the party!"

The girl waved bye to Hyunjin, smiling after seeing Jungeun waiting for her at the door to the room.

"Bye." Hyunjin waved back, gathering her things slowly with a pensive look.

The walk home was relatively normal, despite being one where she was alone instead of with her friends; there was only Hyunjin and her thoughts. She couldn't help but think of Heejin, think of the nerves that were starting to spring into her as the hours passed.

Hyunjin had accepted it, finally. Her feelings for the girl. They had always been real, but this was the first time she was finally acknowledging them for what they were.

She closed her eyes, surrounded by a messy room, lying on the ground like usual - but this time, unsure of how she got there. Had it all been automatic? Had her thoughts just carried her through routine without needing a command? It was all too strange.

Hyunjin checked the hours, impressed with how much time had passed so quick. The clock showed 6PM already, and Jinsol's party would start at seven. She got up from the floor, stretching and running to the shower.

[...]

Heejin was used to not being good at GPS, but now that she was there, in front of the terrorizing destination of one of the first parties she would go to, Heejin wished she wasn't able to find herself so soon.

The party was already going; Heejin could hear loud music coming from the house. But where was Hyunjin? Could she have given up? Was she as scared about that party as Heejin, but just didn't show it?

(Yes.)

One couldn't measure the relief in Heejin's face as she watched the silhouette of Hyunjin running toward her, a phone clutched in her hand. She stopped in front of her, panting and doubling over, clutching her knees so she wouldn't fall.

And still… Hyunjin looked beautiful. Her hair was tied up, with only a few strands of hair falling to the sides of her face. Her eyes were smoked pink, just strong enough to serve as a contrast to her skin. Her cheeks were dusted rosy, and her lips… were glossed and shiny, apparently.

Heejin was kinda breathless.

"Sorry I took so long..." Hyunjin trailed, seemingly regained of her composure, breaking Heejin's trance. "You look pretty, Heejin."

"Ah, thanks..." _So do you._

"Should we go inside?"

Heejin nodded, but didn't move, letting the girl lead in front. Heejin spaced out for a second, and when Hyunjin noticed she wasn't moving, she took her hand, which immediately made the girl wake up from her daydream.

It might be a cliche, but Heejin never felt her heart pound faster than when Hyunjin took her hand. As they entered the house, the booming music becoming louder in their ears, Heejin could feel her anxiety coming back again. Hyunjin's side was pressed against hers, her delicate hand wrapped around Heejin's, and everything else was becoming a bit blurry.

They finally reached Hyunjin's group of friends, and Heejin could breathe a little better. The music wasn't as loud.

"Hyunjinnie! You're fashionably late! I thought you weren't coming for a second." Jinsol had a booming smile, with birthday accessories on her head. She had her arm around Jungeun's waist, a detail Hyunjin wasn't going to miss, anyway.

"Sorry. I lost track of time, but I wasn't going to leave Heejin alone with you guys." She laughed when Jinsol rolled her eyes. "Happy birthday, Sol."

Hyunjin didn't even notice she was lightly squeezing Heejin's hand. And, in the same way as Hyunjin noticed things, Jinsol also noticed the contact between the two girls, but chose not to say anything. Perhaps, she was just going to let things happen.

"Thanks, Hyunjin. Hey, if you find Sooyoung, tell her she owes me a round."

"Will do." Hyunjin saluted Jinsol with two fingers, and waddled away with Heejin.

The house was absolutely crowded with people coming from every room; they were doing their best trying to find a place that was a little calmer. There was an open door leading to a room which seemed less chaotic than the rest of the open concept house, and Hyunjin quickly headed there, still not letting go of Heejin's hand.

She wasn't planning to.

"Oh hey!" Haseul raised a hand, spotting Heejin and Hyunjin right away. She was sitting on the carpet, in a circle with a few more people. "Come take a seat, guys! We're gonna play Uno."

Hyunjin looked at Heejin, silently asking for an answer. The girl nodded, a small smile.

_At least it's not spin the bottle._

They joined the circle without ceremony.

"Just be careful with these two," Haseul pointed at a pair of girls Hyunjin wasn't familiar with. One had blonde hair, the other had dark hair; they were basically opposites in the energy they emanated - kinda like that pink house black house meme. "once they gang up on you with plus cards, you're done."

"Chaewon and Hyejoo, if you're wondering." Heejin muttered in Hyunjin's direction, surprising her.

"Oh, you know them?"

"They let me use them as models for my designs sometimes," Heejin smiled, waving to them briefly. "they're such a cute couple, too."

_Oh, of course. Heejin must have people to wear the pieces she makes._

They played for a while, eventually breaking the circle and just lounging around the room. Heejin felt drained from all the social interaction in real life - it was more than she handled in an entire month.

"Hey, guys, Kahei's grabbing drinks. Anybody want anything?" Haseul asked.

"Not really-"

"Yeah."

Heejin looked at Hyunjin, who was furrowing her eyebrows.

"Heejin."

"What?" Heejin sighed.

"I don't think you should-"

"I didn't ask for your permission."

Heejin didn't know why she snapped like that.

"Okay."

She sighed again, ignoring the pang of pain she felt after Hyunjin's reaction. She got up from the carpet and stormed out, feeling her chest start to constrict.

_I just need a drink._

Heejin wasn't too familiar with booze. Well, she had tried it before, but it was at home, safely, with her parents watching her because - quote - you're gonna try it in high school anyway.

They were right.

She found the kitchen with her renewed sense of direction and grabbed the first bottle she saw, pouring a shot and knocking it back in a hurry. The burn in her throat was horrible, but it was bearable, and the effect was pretty much immediate. Heejin started to feel dizzy, and to try and alleviate the feeling, she knocked back another shot. Easy to say; it didn't help.

At least, not with the dizziness.

[...]

"Fuck." Hyunjin muttered under her breath, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

She opened her eyes after feeling a hand on her shoulder. It was Sooyoung.

"You seem upset. What happened?"

"Just- ugh. I'm an idiot."

"That's often true." Sooyoung muttered, which earned a sharp hey! from Hyunjin along with a stern look. "Well, if you can avoid continuing to be an idiot, then..."

"I know, I know. Don't wallow, fix the situation. And I will. I just need to find Heejin. Have you seen her?"

Sooyoung shrugged. "I don't know. Have you tried the karaoke room?"

Hyunjin hadn't. She said a quick goodbye to Sooyoung and moved fast, dodging drunk high school kids left and right, shaking her head at some of the underclassmen who clearly weren't supposed to be there.

The karaoke room wasn't hard to find - after all, there was different, non-intrusive music coming out of it. Hyunjin walked in slowly, not sure was she was going to see there. And sure as hell, Heejin was there, a microphone in hand, drunkenly chanting the chorus to Girls' Generation's Genie without a care in the world.

_Honestly, she's still kinda good_, Hyunjin thought with a smile, before interrupting herself and crossing the room to close the distance. She was happy nothing had happened to Heejin, at least, not that she could notice.

Hyunjin stopped Heejin, taking the microphone away from her before she could attempt to belt the final legendary Taeyeon adlibs, and took her away by the hand from the questioning looks of the "crowd" - no more than five people, actually. Hyunjin led Heejin with speed, searching for an empty place in the big house, almost sighing in relief when she spotted a vacant room.

"Hey- can you- just, let go of my hand? You've lost that privilege." Heejin groaned, her eyes still hazy. Apparently the girl wasn't getting sober any time soon.

"Alright." Hyunjin complied, not wanting to set her off any more. "Look, Heejin. I was just worried. I didn't mean to order you around. I swear. I wanna make sure you're safe, and comfortable, as much as you can be." She was decisive in her words, mostly because she wasn't sure she was going to have another opportunity to say them. Yes, she cared about Heejin, a lot, actually. But it was more than that.

Heejin closed her eyes for a moment, frowning and covering her face so Hyunjin wouldn't see the tears starting to form in her eyes. The truth was, it was hard for her to accept that someone cared for her the way Hyunjin seemed to care. Heejin wasn't used to it.

She sniffled, sitting in the edge of the bed in the room. Her head was throbbing and she just wanted to go home. "I- it's okay.."

"Heejin..."

"No, just- just go." Heejin muttered, really hating how her eyes just wouldn't stop making more tears.

"No, Heejin. You don't have to be alone sometimes."

Hyunjin sat beside the girl and hugged her, caressing Heejin's head as it rested on her shoulder. It hurt Hyunjin to see the girl broken like this. She wished she could do something more, to help or… comfort. Anything.

"I just.. really like you.." Heejin's voice was muffled on her shoulder, but Hyunjin could still hear her. It made her heart skip a beat.

"I like you too, Heejin. I really do."

Hyunjin backed away to look her in the eyes. They were no longer tearing up - but still, gleaming. She wiped the traces of the tear tracks that were still there, but didn't let go of her face, cupping Heejin's cheeks with her hands. In that moment, Hyunjin couldn't help but look at her lips for a moment, not really aware she was doing so.

Heejin leaned in first, probably for a second. Her instinctual move was to grab Hyunjin by the collar as she kissed her; after all, she needed something to ground her while her mind floated around with the effect of the girl's lips on hers.

In a possible list of regrets, that party wasn't going to be included after all.

[...]

"Just tell me!"

"She's lost the plot completely." Jinsol tried to divert the attention from her, but it obviously wasn't going to work.

"Hey, uh, Jungeun? Care to give me a hand here?" Hyunjin, obviously, called for backup.

"Just tell her, Jinsol. Because if you don't, then I will."

The only thing in Jungeun's mind was ugh, children…

Jinsol sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. You asked for it."

**friday - jinsol's party.**

The moment Hyunjin and Heejin had walked away after wishing her a happy birthday, Jinsol stood in the same spot with Jungeun, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, very obvious to everyone but herself. She felt extremely happy in that moment, almost high - on top of the world, and nothing was going to pull her down.

In the backburner, though, there was a kind of nervousness she had never felt before. Because, even if Jinsol felt on top of the world right now, she still couldn't shake the feeling that she was wasting time, somehow. Because, no matter how brave and forward Jinsol could be doing basically anything else, Jungeun still wasn't her girlfriend; she still had not asked the big question.

Besides, there was also the necklace in her pocket.

Jinsol was going back and forward with herself every second she touched that necklace in her pocket to make sure it was still there. Whether she would do it or not. That necklace had been bought quite a time ago - planned ahead for a birthday that had already passed.

It could have been just a birthday gift, had Jinsol actually given it. And now, the only thing she could prove was that it wasn't meant as a birthday gift at all. Because she had a mirror of that same necklace hidden under her shirt.

But then, Jungeun had to physically extract her out of her thoughts.

"Jinsol?"

"Yeah?"

"Is everything okay?"

Jinsol smiled, squeezing Jungeun's hand in her own. "Of course, baby."

The baby made Jungeun laugh, and she in turn squeezed Jinsol's nose. "I'll go grab a drink. Do you want anything?" She unknowingly stepped away from Jinsol's warmth, still holding her hand.

"Maybe a kiss."

Jinsol didn't think Jungeun was really going to follow through, much less with a kiss that screamed _I'm this close to taking your shirt off._ But it didn't matter, because Jungeun walked away.

She took a deep breath, biting down on her lip and checking again to make sure the necklace was still in her pocket.

[...]

She was already missing her, even after walking away for a few seconds. Jinsol just had this... effect on her. It didn't make an inch of sense. But when all the lights in the kitchen and living room went out, all Jungeun could feel was fear and confusion.

Jungeun left the kitchen after suddenly hearing a ruckus in the living room. She hoped no one went crazy and climbed the coffee table, because that would just be dumb. Kids started cheering something, but Jungeun couldn't see what it was clearly. Finally the lights were back and it started to make sense.

Jinsol had climbed the coffee table.

"Good evening, y'all." Jinsol had a mic on her hands, but it wasn't connected to anything. "Thank you for coming to my party, I hope it was lit enough for you." That earned more cheers and loud whistles. "First of all, you might be wondering why I'm here, talking to you. And yeah, there is a reason!"

"What's the reason??" Someone in the crowd asked, getting more cheers and yeah!s.

"Good question." Jinsol had a nervous smile, and even her eyes weren't completely sure of what she was even doing. But then, she spotted Jungeun by the door to the kitchen, and it all started clicking back for her. "I wanna make a confession, actually. There's this girl I really like, and I haven't been completely honest with her."

"Yeah! Girls!"

"That's right!" Jinsol pointed at whoever screamed, laughing just a little. "One girl, for me. That one right there, actually." She refocused her stare on Jungeun, and suddenly, there was no one else in that room for her. No one else mattered. "Kim Jungeun. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Jungeun didn't have words to describe exactly what she was feeling in that moment. Happy, nervous, just… shocked. She started walking toward Jinsol, slowly because she was sure she would embarrass herself somehow if she wasn't careful.

"If you say no I'm gonna be very sad." Jinsol joked, which made everyone laugh, Jungeun included. But she still had a wide smile on her face, and everything was fine.

Jungeun finally reached Jinsol, taking her hand and sharing what little space there was in that poor coffee table.

"Yes. A thousand times yes. But we should get down before this breaks." She muttered the last part, which made Jinsol laugh that weird laugh of hers.

They got down - thankfully - and Jinsol finally fetched the necklace from her pocket, unlatching the lock and placing it on Jungeun's neck.

"Here," Jinsol reached behind her and closed it back. "I've been meaning to give this to you."

Jungeun had a questioning look on her face, which resolved after Jinsol revealed her own necklace. It was a completing match of the other, each of them half moons that came together perfectly.

"Jinsol.." Jungeun was close to tearing up, but she would hold it in for the moment. "This is so beautiful."

"I guess I wanted to surprise you."

"And you did. You did."

"JUST KISS ALREADY!"

Oh, yeah. The crowd was still there, by the way. So Jinsol and Jungeun complied with the request, causing the loudest ruckus of all. But they were deep in each other's lips and didn't really care; as long as they were together, nothing else mattered.

[...]

"So that's it? I thought the coffee table would break or something." Hyunjin remarked, a bit disappointed.

She looked up when the door to the room opened again and Heejin came back, sitting in her lap where she felt the most comfortable. Hyunjin gave her back one of the Airpods and let her take control of the playlist again.

Jinsol took a moment to smile at the couple, so laser-focused on one another when they were together. She got up from the carpet and sat beside Jungeun on the bed, poking her until she would give her attention.

"Baby." Jinsol whispered, finally breaking the spell Jungeun had on those crack videos on her phone.

"What?" Jungeun whispered back.

"Just look at them. How long do you think until they're official?"

Jungeun laughed, leaning into Jinsol and resting her head on her shoulder. She looked at the couple together on the floor, a tender smile on her face when Jinsol kissed her forehead.

"Just look at Heejin's hand." She looked back at Jinsol, waiting for her to notice.

"What about it?"

"Just look."

Jinsol did. Yeah, there was something she hadn't noticed before. Heejin was holding Hyunjin's hand. Well, that was pretty regular for them.

"I don't get-"

"The ring finger, idiot. She's holding her ring finger."

Jinsol furrowed her eyebrows, impressed at how detailed Jungeun's observation skills could be. So they were way ahead of her…

Besides, Hyunjin had already confided in her that she was thinking about it, too. Of course a lot of the reasons stemmed from the fact that Heejin was getting along great with everyone in Hyunjin's friend group. And maybe Hyunjin was a tiny bit jealous of that.

Hyunjin only calmed down when Heejin told her she would buy her some bread. It was quite easy to persuade her like that.

And what they had? It was special - different. However, Hyunjin still didn't know what it meant. It hadn't been a long time since they got together; although, nothing official. Hyunjin did know she really liked Heejin, each day more than the previous.

She smiled when Heejin leaned her head even further into her shoulder, watching closely as Heejin looked at her, probably wanting to say something.

"This song reminds me of you."

The song that was playing was I Wanna Be Yours by the Arctic Monkeys. It was a pretty good fucking song and Hyunjin was glad Heejin had introduced her to it. She almost didn't notice the hidden meaning of what Heejin said until the last second of the song.

Hyunjin kissed her instead of dwelling on it too much, because she always tended to overthink things, anyway.

_You are_, she thought, trying to telepathically say it - but knowing damn well it wouldn't work.

She looked at the time, noticing how late it was. Her parents were probably worried, although there weren't any missed calls or texts on her phone.

"We gotta go, right?" Heejin was faster than her on the gun, though. It just seemed like one of her traits.

They got up, helping each other on their feet and not letting go of each other's hands.

"We gotta go, Jinsol."

"It's so early though!" The blonde protested, like she always did.

"I know. But Heejin's house is pretty far, and it's getting dark."

They said goodbye to Jinsol and Jungeun, laughing at the way Jinsol still tried to convince them to stay (but ultimately failing). They left the house still holding hands, swinging their arms as they walked down the sidewalk.

The two walked in slow steps beside each other, sometimes stretching their arms so Heejin would try to balance on the narrow parts of the sidewalk and Hyunjin would just smile at her.

"Hyunjin." Heejin called out her name after a while, but her stare was fixed on the ground. Hyunjin knew she only did that when she was nervous about something.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really have to go?"

Hyunjin could see the trace of a pout in Heejin's lips, which was extremely adorable.

"Why? You don't want me to?" She poked Heejin's side, teasing her, which made Heejin roll her eyes.

"What if I say no?"

"My parents will probably scold me," Hyunjin looked up at the sky, clicking her tongue and wondering out loud. "sure, I'll stay with you."

Heejin smiled widely, squeezing Hyunjin's hand and hugging her tight. And more excited than ever, she pulled her by the hand toward the end of the street where her house could already be seen.

[...]

They entered the house without ceremony, taking off their shoes and leaving them at the entrance.

"Your socks are cute." Heejin pointed out, looking at Hyunjin's yellow cat socks.

"Thanks." The taller girl smiled. "We move quietly?" She mimicked the volume of Heejin's voice, hoping they were being quiet enough. She wasn't looking for trouble with the girl's parents, not ever.

Heejin nodded, taking Hyunjin's hand and leading her up the steps to the second floor, moving slowly and carefully. They reached Heejin's room without issues, sighing in relief and placing backpacks on the floor.

Hyunjin wasn't ashamed to admit it; she loved Heejin's room. From what she remembered being there to study for finals or just see Heejin, it was so amazing seeing everything she remembered reading about live and in color. There were so many paintings and posters in the walls, and a green board with tons of Heejin's designs pinned in it. Every single element in that room reminded her of the girl, somehow.

It was her room, after all.

Hyunjin sat in Heejin's bed, still observing every detail in awe, absorbing how fully Heejin everything was. Hyunjin didn't even notice herself grinning when she spotted a photo of the two taped to the door; her and Heejin with big smiles and a breathtaking scenario in the background. She was suddenly hit with nostalgia as she remembered the day the photo was taken.

It was their second date; Hyunjin had gotten tickets to the carnival and Heejin pretty much made them go on all the fast rides first - which was a choice she didn't really approve of, but anyway. At the end of the day, Hyunjin just wanted to take a seat and chill for a minute, but there were absolutely no benches in that bloody place, so Heejin suggested the ferris wheel.

The best suggestion she could ever make.

Hyunjin remembered that Heejin was nervous because of the height, so she got up from the opposite side and sat beside her, taking Heejin's hand to comfort her, as she was learning it calmed the girl down better than anything else.

Being at the peak could be all the more nerve-wracking, but the closeness between them led to their second kiss, initiated by Hyunjin. If it wasn't for the high winds, she was sure she would be able to hear her heartbeat going off the rails that day.

Hyunjin laughed by herself. "Are you still afraid of heights?"

"I don't know..." Heejin trailed, a curious smile embellishing her features. "I think it just reminds me of you now."

The girl sat beside her, undoing her hair which was up in a ponytail.

"Reminds you of me? Is that a good thing?" Hyunjin teased her again, something she was growing fond of. She rearranged the wild strands in Heejin's hair.

"Hyunjin!" The girl gave her a death stare. "You know it is."

They basked in silence for a moment, Hyunjin's slender fingers sliding through Heejin's dark hair, just mindlessly enjoying the softness of it.

"Heejin.."

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought of when you're gonna tell your parents? You know… about us?"

Heejin wasn't surprised by how direct Hyunjin could be, but it still catched her off-guard. She sighed, avoiding Hyunjin's eyes for a while, afraid she would expose all the uncertainties swimming in her mind easily if she did look.

She stood quiet for a while in hopes Hyunjin would say something else, but that didn't happen. Of course not, because Hyunjin knew they would have to talk about it sooner or later. And the sooner the best, because later… might not even exist.

"Hyunjin… it's not that I don't want to. I- I can't even imagine dad's reaction, and mom hasn't given me a break about romance either. She can't catch a hint..."

"What kind of hint?"

"It's… uh, that show with century-old lesbians?"

"Gentleman Jack? You recommended Gentleman Jack to your mom?" Hyunjin was close to just throwing herself on the floor with laughter. She chose to, instead, just throw herself on Heejin.

"I tried..." Heejin groaned, trying to push Hyunjin off of her but failing.

"It's okay, Heejin." She looked deep into her eyes, softly brushing strands of hair out of Heejin's face. "Whenever you're ready, I'll be here."

"I know."

They were lying side by side on Heejin's bed. She didn't know when she started feeling it, but Heejin knew it was the same Hyunjin was feeling, because they were just transfixed on each other and nothing else, and Heejin started feeling the butterflies flying around inside her stomach, unstoppable.

Heejin started the kiss this time, feeling brave and unafraid. The butterflies wreaked havoc inside as it deepened and she found a comfortable position with her arms around Hyunjin's neck. Her stomach was cold, but her heart was warm as Hyunjin's fingers found themselves in her hair.

It wasn't small, Hyunjin found out. The amount of love she was feeling for Heejin wasn't small. It was a lot, and that discovery was both scary and amazing. Her pulse would jump in speed when she spent time with Heejin, and Hyunjin felt like she could die if the girl kept staring into her eyes as if she didn't know. Because she knew Heejin knew.

But dying as she stared into those eyes didn't sound so bad in the moment.

[...]

A soft breeze was coming in through the open window when Hyunjin woke up. For a moment, she was afraid Heejin was gone, because the bed was empty save for her and messy sheets.

She sat up, still a little disoriented by just waking up. Scratching her eyes, Hyunjin looked around and finally found who she was looking for.

Heejin was standing, pinning fabric to a plastic model stand, unbothered by anything else. She seemed so in her element, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"You finally woke up." Heejin was smiling, looking over the plastic model's shoulder.

Hyunjin smiled back, blinking a few times to get used to the light in her eyes, and got up heading toward Heejin. She hugged the girl's back, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Hyunjin muttered against Heejin's shirt, and it sounded muffled and incoherent, but Heejin understood it anyway, laughing.

"You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disrupt that." She smiled to herself, knowing Hyunjin couldn't see her face.

It sounded, well, a little creepy, but Heejin liked to watch Hyunjin while she slept. She just looked so beautiful, absolutely no worries clouding her expression.

Hyunjin trapped Heejin's neck with her arms and kissed her cheek. "Peaceful, huh?" Hyunjin's lips were still on Heejin's skin. When Heejin laughed, getting tickled by Hyunjin's touch, the girl captured her lips, not even minding when she heard a safety pin falling from Heejin's hand.

"Heejin.." Hyunjin let the name roll off her tongue, her tone slightly hesitant, something that she had never done before. "are you mine?" She asked, their noses still brushing.

"What kind of question is that.." Heejin's voice was more air than voice. "you know the answer, Hyunjin."

"I just wanted to hear it from you." She stared deep into her eyes, smiling just a little.

And how incredible was it, that she got to hear it from Heejin. That was Hyunjin's thought.

It had been the right decision, after all. To stay with Heejin. Because if she hadn't, maybe the thought would never again cross her mind.

[...]

If Jungeun had ever doubted anything in her life, it was the bravery and the guts of certain people. It simply made no sense to her, seeing all those girls staring daggers of jealousy at her whenever she would walk down the hallways holding hands with Jinsol.

She thought it would stop after the party. Thought those girls would leave her alone when they realised they had no chance. But for such small-minded people, it seemed impossible to just let go, because for them it meant "admitting defeat".

Jungeun wanted to hate each and every single one of them. She wanted to drag them through the mud and ruin their wishes. But there was something more important for Jungeun, and that was Jinsol's happiness. Jungeun certainly didn't want the girl to feel bad for being a bit of a heartbreaker in the past. She wanted her to feel good about how things were right now.

Those girls didn't matter, and they shouldn't.

But a bad feeling was itching at the back of Jungeun's mind; that her problems with those girls went beyond miles away of what she originally thought.

"Hey, we're here." Jinsol laughed, presumably at the out of touch expression Jungeun probably still had. She had her shoulder against the wall, tilting her head and staring at Jungeun. "Are you gonna miss me?"

She had the same adoring stare as always.

"You say that as if I'm gonna leave the country." Jungeun shook her head in a reproving manner, but she was smiling. "Of course I will." She grabbed Jinsol's other hand, effectively intertwining all their fingers together.

"I'm gonna miss you too."

Jinsol was smiling wide, using the fact that their hands were together as an opportunity to pull Jungeun closer, enveloping the girl in a tight hug, wishing she never had to let go.

Jungeun could feel her heart getting tighter, this massive fear growing that Jinsol would notice her change in behavior just by her heart's rhythm.

But the blonde didn't say a thing, letting go of her although she wished she didn't have to, and kissing Jungeun's forehead, a wide smile still on her face.

"I'll see you later." Jinsol brushed Jungeun's hair back and walked away, laughter escaping her lips as she left the girl's view.

Jungeun sighed, nodding to herself as if she was trying to convince herself that everything was going to be fine, and entered her classroom, hoping to be ready for what she hoped was just another day.

[...]

There were many points to consider. Many possibilities. But by far, the thought that was most prominent inside Heejin's head, was the time she would be far away from Hyunjin.

Should she accept it? Two days away from home, both the physical one, and the one who was becoming the definition of home for her? It didn't seem too bad if you only looked at it from a number standpoint; but looking at it from Heejin's POV, one where she had taken off hours from her life not confessing her feelings for Hyunjin, being away from her girlfriend for more than twenty four hours seemed like torture.

The truth was, if she only mentioned it to Hyunjin in passing, Heejin knew the girl would tell her to go. Of course she would. In the end, it was really always about the long and painful argument with herself.

Heejin left the classroom along with Jungeun. She had discovered only recently that the girl was extremely fun to hang out with, something she would have never found out if it wasn't for Hyunjin. Another true thing was that great things came your way when you fell in love. You just had to look up to see them, sometimes.

"You have to go, Heejin." Jungeun said in a matter-of-fact tone, which made Heejin sigh and nod, still feeling divided. "It's a great opportunity to get a scholarship. You could get in a great college before me!"

"I know..." Heejin looked down, pouting. "But it's not like it's in Hongdae or somewhere near. It's France! Over ten hours in a plane!" She didn't mean to sound excited, more like frustrated.

"Ten and a half hours, Heejin. Paid by the school! You're going to Lyon! You have to! And if you don't, I'll tell Hyunjin."

Heejin's pupils doubled in size.

"You can't! You wouldn't!" She grabbed Jungeun's hand, practically begging. All she lacked was kneeling on the floor.

"You have to go. As your friend, I'm not letting you miss this opportunity. Hyunjin, as your girlfriend, won't let you either. And all the begging in the world won't change that."

Heejin sighed for the millionth time.

"Why do the gods allow such suffering..."

That was definitely not the first time she was asking that question.

[...]

If Jinsol possessed any kind of fear, any at all, it was one where she would end up breaking Jungeun's heart one day. And the worst-sounding thing of all, was that nothing would make that fear disappear from her conscience, particularly when she was living with a girl so beautiful and yet, so enigmatic like Jungeun.

She was able to mask her insecurity with a smile so far, but when hiding her expression from Jungeun while she hugged her, it was as bitter as black coffee. And the worst thing was, no matter how much she wished not to feel this way, a small but sneaky inkling inside her head whispered that the worst was yet to come, like a disease that starts with the lighter symptoms first.

Jinsol went down to the cafeteria, hoping to easily find Jungeun there. After all, the highlights in her hair stuck out like a sore thumb, and it made finding her quite easy. But even when she scanned the whole place with her eyes, Jungeun was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, someone covered her eyes with a blindfold, which made Jinsol laugh. Of course Jungeun would be the one to tease and play like this.

"Where were you?" Jinsol asked, but got no answer. That wasn't the first time Jungeun let her actions speak louder than her words; Jinsol didn't mind it at all when her hand was pulled and she let it happen without asking further questions.

She had no idea where they were going. There were only voices in the halls, and faint points of light where the blindfold wasn't tight enough to shield her eyes from them.

They walked and walked and walked for what seemed like an eternity, until they finally stopped in a spot. Jinsol still couldn't tell where they were, only that it was really bright and smelled of cleaning products.

"Jungeun, where are we? How long are you keeping me in the dark for?" Jinsol was smiling, but her mood was starting to sour just a little. It just wasn't as fun anymore.

Hands combed her hair back and one of them pinched her chin between fingers. Jinsol could feel her breathing on the skin of her nose, and usually when they kissed, she could sense a timid kind of hesitation on Jungeun's part. But in that moment, there was nothing. Not even a hint of it.

Jungeun wasn't usually able to reach her nose, anyway. She was a palm shorter, or so.

_Wait…_

Lips touched her own in a hurry, a rhythm Jinsol wasn't familiar with nor understood; and those same hands were touching her without an inch of fear, spreading down her body like it was owed to them. And in the same exact second, Jinsol _knew that wasn't Jungeun._

She pushed the person by the shoulders, pulling down the blindfold in a frenzy. Jinsol looked at the girl, a blast of confusion starting to hit her. But as the face clicked in her brain, everything else did as well.

"You gotta be kidding me… Yujin?" The interrogatory tone of Jinsol's voice was obviously rhetorical, because she recognized the girl right away. Jinsol was automatically backing up as soon as she could get Yujin's hands off of her body.

She felt… disgusting. Everything about the situation was disgusting. The fact that she let it happen was disgusting. But the most disgusting thing of all was herself.

"I'm gonna leave. Don't fucking come after me.. don't even look at me, ever."

Jinsol left the finally identifiable cleaning supply room, running through the hallways, lost. She knew that school so well, but that wasn't a reason not to get lost. Not in that situation, and not in that headspace. Her mind was becoming a whirlpool of fucking stupid shit.

_Jungeun couldn't know_. In every skipped breath, in every moment Jinsol felt like all of the tears in the world would slide down her face…

_Jungeun couldn't know._

And keeping that secret would slowly kill Jinsol, for sure.

[...]

"Hyunjin! Sooyoung!" Jungeun waved at the two girls after finding them, walking toward the table where they sat with Heejin in tow.

"Hey." Hyunjin waved back, but her eyes were glued to one person only.

"Where's the blonde heartthrob?" Sooyoung asked Jungeun, weirded out by the fact Jinsol wasn't there. She thought that would be the reason why she wasn't able to find the blonde when she was looking for her with Hyunjin, but that turned out to be false.

"I don't know.." Jungeun shrugged, confused by the clear absence of Jinsol, anywhere. "I thought she would be with you guys?"

"She's probably just grabbing something she forgot, somewhere. It's nothing to worry about." Sooyoung reasoned to Jungeun, and to herself as well, to some extent.

Meanwhile, Heejin and Hyunjin were having a cute staring match between each other, just smiling and saying nothing. Jungeun pushed Heejin by the shoulder, urging her to sit down and stop being weird in the middle of the cafeteria. She was telepathically asking her to bring up the Thing; although unsure that would work.

Heejin sat beside Hyunjin, immediately smiling wider when the girl started poking her cheek, still saying nothing.

"This gay tea is surprisingly light today." Sooyoung moved her eyebrows suggestively, making Jungeun laugh.

"And where's Jiwoo? Aren't you two a thing too?" Jungeun asked, not even bothered in the slightest by the couple's PDA. She was used to it by that point.

"She's busy with the Winter Ball Committee. She barely has time to hang out..."

Jungeun could see Sooyoung was clearly trying to act nonchalant about it, but it wasn't working so well in her favor. It was even more hilarious.

"Yerim and Haseul are also in the Committee. Kahei too, but it's probably just to hang with Haseul."

"I don't understand why would you hang out with the cheerleaders. Aren't they… a little bit extra?"

Jungeun shook her head. "Not really? They're calmer than they appear. Even after they're drunk."

Sooyoung's eyes got super wide after hearing that, and she reached to cover Jungeun's eyes with a napkin from the table like she was stopping her from seeing something horrible.

"You've seen some shit.."

Of course Sooyoung was just being a prick, and Jungeun chose to ignore her for the rest of the day - she thought the lack of Jiwoo was starting to harm the girl's brain. As for Heejin and Hyunjin? They were too busy whispering things to each other to actually pay attention to anything else.

But their cute moment didn't last for too long. Hyunjin soon got a text from Jinsol, and reading it immediately gave her the knowledge that it was important.

_Hyunjin, I need you. It's urgent._

_Please don't say anything to Jungeun. Please._

The girl sighed, looking at Heejin who right now had just become her accomplice, and locked her phone back. Hyunjin reached for the girl's ear, and whispered.

"_Can you distract Jungeun?_" She smiled as if there was nothing impervious to what she was saying, kissing Heejin's cheek before getting up from the table. "I'll see you later at my house?"

Heejin smiled and nodded, pulling Hyunjin back for one last kiss before sending her away.

"Where is Hyunjin going?" Jungeun asked, trying to push Sooyoung's annoying hands away.

"Her mom wanted to talk to her about something." Heejin came up with the excuse on the spot, feeling quite proud of herself when she realised Jungeun was believing it.

She took the girl by the hand, pulling her up from the table.

"If you want me to go to France, you're gonna have to help me with something."

"What?"

"Come on, I'll tell you on the way."

And they left, leaving Sooyoung talking to herself on the table.

"Wait, where are you guys going?? Are you really just gonna leave me like Jiwoo did? Wait up!!"

[...]

Kim Hyunjin knocked on the door hoping not to find what her mind was imagining. However, there was Jinsol, her cheeks stained with tears and her blonde hair a mess.

"Jinsol, what happened?" She came in, closing the door and following Jinsol into the house.

Her answer was to just throw herself into Hyunjin's arms, sobbing in her shoulder like she had been holding it all in just seconds before. Well, that was technically true.

"I'm such a horrible person, Hyunjin… I don't know why, but I am.."

Hyunjin shook her head, strongly disagreeing. "You're not horrible. Of course not. You know that's not true."

"I am… I-I thought it was Jungeun, I swear I thought it was her, but-but it wasn't and I, I let it happen. I..."

Hyunjin waited patiently for her to get herself back together a bit, holding her fragile self in her arms so she wouldn't fall.

"I let her kiss me. And now I-I… I feel so dirty! How could I do this?? How could I do this to Jungeun??"

Hyunjin's breath failed. She didn't know exactly what her friend was feeling, but she imagined it wasn't good. What she knew, however, was that it wasn't Jinsol's fault. She was sure Jinsol had no such intentions, not ever close to bad. In the contrary - Hyunjin was sure that if she could, Jinsol would go back in time to change something if she knew it was going to spark a better outcome.

Unfortunately, none of them would ever be capable of going back in time, even if it was what Hyunjin wished most. Even if it was what Jinsol needed.

"It wasn't your fault. You know this."

"I know, but… it doesn't matter. It really doesn't." She sighed, slowly leaving Hyunjin's comforting arms. It wasn't true that she was ready to face the reality - she really wasn't, but - she couldn't stay in the safe zone like this. It would only make things harder.

"Are you going to tell her?" Hyunjin asked, even if deep down, she already knew the answer. Jinsol would never come clean, because she didn't like thinking about Jungeun's reaction to it.

But then, Jinsol wouldn't be honest to herself. And then…

"I… I don't know." Jinsol stared down, avoiding her friend's eyes. At the end of the day, she couldn't even look at herself in the mirror.

Pretending she was okay would be something she'd have to master, and Jinsol knew quite well what would happen in case she didn't.

[...]

She hesitated, lifting her hand to knock. Heejin realised then - she was shaking. The tips of her fingers were red and burning like fire, and her breathing was materializing in front of her, smoke coming out of her mouth.

Heejin shook her hands, closing her eyes for a moment, and finally knocked. Her heart was going a thousand miles out of her chest and for a brief second she considered running away and never coming back, but the warm light coming out of the house hit her eyes and a familiar expression came along it.

"You came."

"Yeah, I did… you thought I wouldn't?"

Small laughter left Hyunjin's lips and she shook her head, a bit embarrassed.

"If it was me, I would be running like hell."

Heejin laughed, nodding. "I thought about it, but I ran out of time."

"Yeah, I thought so." And so, Hyunjin pulled Heejin by the hand, leading her inside with a smile still on her face. "Come on. They're waiting."

First, they went through a beautiful living room, a mixture of cream colors that were easy to the eye. Just seeing the way everything was neatly organized, Heejin was sure Hyunjin's good taste came from her parents.

"Honey! Is that the Heejin you've been talking about?" Hyunjin's mom showed up first, greeting Heejin with a big smile and a hug, which made Hyunjin smile, more embarrassed than ever, making Heejin feel a bit overwhelmed.

"Yeah, mom. That's her."

"It's great that you came. Usually Hyunjin doesn't bring in her friends - I always have to call them myself!"

Heejin smiled, nodding. "Yeah, that sounds like Hyunjin." She played along, making the girl by her side even more embarrassed.

"Hyunjin, honey, can you help your dad set the table? He must be having trouble even carrying plates."

Hyunjin nodded, leading Heejin further into the house and into the dining room.

"Come on, let's meet my dad."

And meet Hyunjin's dad they did; he was a kind man, with glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. He complimented Heejin's handshake and told her he saw a brilliant future ahead of her. Hyunjin explained to her that he liked to predict people's futures - just as a joke, but often those predictions would fit in nicely with the reality or even be the exact same.

They sat at the table, in comfortable silence that was only broken when Heejin made sure to compliment the food and decor of the place, which Hyunjin silently found really sweet and adorable of her.

"Oh, yeah, mom - Heejin is an amazing design artist." Hyunjin started to brag about the girl, making Heejin red as a beetle and denying everything. "She is, she got invited to a fashion event in France. Can you believe that?"

Heejin's eyes widened and she stared at Hyunjin, shocked that she knew that information. Just as she was trying to create courage to tell her the news? She already knew?

_How?_

As she was responding to Heejin's mental questioning, Hyunjin smiled and their gazes crossed for longer than normal. Hyunjin's smile widened further.

_I know everything when it comes to you._

"That's great, honey! Where in France, exactly? I love the coast there." Hyunjin's mom smiled seeing their interaction, looking at her husband. "We should visit again, right love?"

"For sure." The man smiled, agreeing.

"It's, uh… in Lyon?" Heejin laughed, this time being the one feeling embarrassed and feeling the back of her neck burn. Hyunjin didn't usually stare at her like that, particularly when her parents were this close. "I don't know much about the place."

"That sounds fantastic. Have fun there, Heejin." He got up, stretching his arms. "Dessert, girls?"

"Dad, actually, Heejin has to go… she can't arrive late home."

Heejin nodded, getting up. "I wish I could stay, but my parents said I need to be at home early."

Hyunjin's parents nodded, understanding. They had definitely left a good impression in Heejin's eyes, and she hoped it was the same for her.

"I'll take you to the door."

They walked to the door, two quiet girls who knew a lot of things, and at the same time, not much at all. First, Hyunjin, who was charmed by Heejin's new, cordial and polite side. And Heejin, who was surprised by Hyunjin's awareness.

The door opened, and Heejin crossed the threshold, turning and looking down, suddenly shy.

"It was-"

"How did you know?"

They both laughed, hearing their voices mixed with the cold wind of the night.

"Heejin, it's a school thing. Don't you think I would know? I'm close to the Art Department."

"Oh… of course. How could I get so blindsided." Heejin joked, a hint of drama in her voice, which made Hyunjin hit her shoulder and roll her eyes. "What were you going to say?"

"It was wonderful."

Hyunjin's eyes were gleaming like two beautiful pearls while she stared at Heejin. Ideas for poems were racing through Heejin's mind in a perfect whirlwind. That always seemed to happen when she looked at her. A perfect whirlwind while seeing a perfect girl.

"You're exaggerating..." Heejin felt the back of her neck grow warm.

"Exaggerating? They love you! They would probably tell you to move here in a second if I wasn't in the room."

Heejin laughed, shaking her head.

"You are." Heejin whispered, pretending not to have said anything when Hyunjin asked her to repeat it, still with those gleaming eyes and knowing it all. "You are wonderful." She finally caved, doing what Hyunjin asked.

Hyunjin took a brief peek behind them, and then, enveloped Heejin in an embrace while she kissed her - a short kiss, but warm, very contrastant to the current temperature which just seemed to drop further by the minute.

"Have fun in France thinking about me." Hyunjin whispered in her ear before letting her go, sending Heejin away while she laughed at the disbelief in her expression.

She went back inside, unable to contain the smile that was all over her face, her heart pounding quick and quicker. She said goodnight to her parents and headed to her room, but her dad called her name again.

"Hyunjin, my daughter… how much is it you love this girl?"

The question made Hyunjin's eyes widen in surprise. She had no idea how he had noticed.

Hyunjin's dad shook his head, laughing.

"Of course I noticed. You were looking at her the same way I look at your mother." He had an all-knowing expression this time.

Hyunjin smiled, sighing. "A lot, dad. I love her a lot." She felt a bit weird confessing that so quickly, but at the same time, she didn't even care. Because it was true. It was true.

"Alright then. You have my blessing. But don't tell your mother. Not yet."

She nodded with her head, and hugged her dad goodnight. Heejin's smile still floated in her head like a distant dream.

And when she fell asleep, it was still there. She smiled, then, unknowing.

[...]

The girl with the highlights in her hair knocked on the door, her nerves about to burst through her whole body. Jungeun didn't know why she was doing this so early on a Saturday, but she felt it was necessary. For some unknown reason, Jinsol hadn't been really communicative with her, a blaring difference from the Jinsol Jungeun knew.

She took a deep breath while the door swung open, and it seemed to make sense now - given how Jinsol's expression gave her good reason to worry even further and start wondering what the hell was even happening.

And the girl said nothing while this happened. Jungeun tried to find something in her eyes, but nothing seemed to show; Jinsol's stare was dead, motionless. Jinsol only blinked, and blinking seemed like all she knew how to do.

Not even taking her face between her hands caused any reaction worthy of response.

"Jinsol? Jinsol, are you okay?"

The girl didn't answer, only taking Jungeun's hand and leading her inside the apartment.

"Okay, dumb question..."

"I gotta talk to you."

Those were the first words to leave Jinsol's mouth, and the first words that managed to scared Jungeun enough to make her want to sit down.

The apartment lights were weak and blinking every now and then. Jungeun thought, but didn't dare to say it aloud - the environment seemed like the scenario of a horror movie. Besides, the apartment wasn't exactly in good condition.

Jinsol sighed, pulling up a bench to sit near Jungeun, instead of sitting beside her on the sofa. Of course that was part of the problem as well. There were always the beginnings of relationships where physical reigned over everything else, and with Jinsol it wasn't any different. However, that was starting to change as Jinsol grew distant since the day she had disappeared and left Jungeun to go home with no company.

"Jinsol, what is it with the suspense? What's happening with you- what's happening with us?"

Jungeun's heart ached while she said this, and her eyes started to water. But she didn't want to cry, because crying would make the problem real.

"Jungeun, I-I can't. I have to tell you, but if I do, you're gonna hate me forever- and if you hate me I'll never forgive myself.." Jinsol got up from the bench, pacing back and forth, her frizzy blonde hair all over the place. She couldn't stay still for a second, and it was scaring Jungeun.

"Jinsol, what is it? What's going on??" Jungeun just wanted to panic. Was there a reason to panic? There couldn't be. Not like this.

"I can't- I can't, I can't… I can't, Jungeun.. I-I"

"Jinsol, please, calm down.."

"_I can't.. I'm sorry Jungeun, I can't do this.._."

Jinsol's knees crashed on the floor, and as much as it hurt to see her like that, Jungeun couldn't move an inch to help her. Not even her hand was moving.

The tears ran wild now. Was that real? It seemed so real, Jinsol's weakening voice smaller and smaller in her ear, killing all her hope to fix what was broken.

And Jungeun didn't even know what the fuck that was. Maybe… maybe she was the problem. Maybe all this time, Jinsol was pretending-

"I can't do this."

to love her, pretending her feelings were real. Maybe Jungeun was just another piece in her game, and Jungeun's-

"We need to end this."

fragmented heart started believing it. Her eyes closed-

"We need to end this before it hurts us more."

one more time, but those were tears of anger sliding down her cheeks. Yes, she was angry. Really angry. She wasn't capable of taking it out on the girl kneeling in front of her-

"I'm really sorry. For everything."

right away, but the parts came together and the resentment was just bottling up. She got up, crossing her arms and rubbing her eyes, and looked at the small person kneeling there.

"You're not really sorry." Jungeun said, loud and clear, and left, pretending everything was okay, pretending nothing was wrong.

But deeply inside her chest, Jungeun could hear her own heart break in a million little pieces.

[...]

Heejin had no idea what she was doing, even as she stuffed pieces of clothing inside the suitcase. Everything seemed really weird, like nothing made real sense. Her nerves were on an all time high, her heart beating without a pause, like a session of punches with no break; and that didn't make sense either. And even while she was placing the long portfolio on top of everything, Heejin was almost regretting saying yes.

"You don't have to regret it." Hyunjin whispered in her ear, resting her head on Heejin's shoulder and laughing when Heejin sighed loud and exaggerated. "Just because I'm not there doesn't mean it's not nice."

Heejin wasn't so sure of that. Besides, she didn't speak French.

She grabbed the box of strawberry Nesquik and drunk mindlessly, sitting on the bed and letting her sight lose focus. Her head was full of ideas. She was almost halfway done with the box when Hyunjin took it from her, drinking the rest without a care in the world.

"Hey, that's mine!" Heejin tried to reach for the box to take it back, but her girlfriend didn't make the task easy, lifting her hand up in the air where Heejin couldn't reach.

"All this time you were hiding this from me? This nectar of the gods? Oh, how sweet!" Hyunjin was smug and Heejin hated it.

"Hyunjin..."

Instead of giving it back when Heejin tried to reach it one last time, Hyunjin gave her something better, and much sweeter than strawberry Nesquik.

Heejin thought she would never get used to Hyunjin's kisses. Not one single box of strawberry milk could ever taste as sweet as her lips.

She felt something pull on her deep down, and contained herself so no sound could leave her mouth. Heejin wasn't dumb; she knew what that was. But it didn't mean she didn't want to wait. For the right moment. The perfect moment.

Heejin backed away first, but her eyes were still locked on Hyunjin's own, their noses brushing. She realised she was holding her arms a bit too strongly, and immediately loosened the hold, apologizing.

For some reason, she always felt like she had to hold onto something when Hyunjin was around, particularly when she was this close. Because, if Heejin didn't, maybe she would float away.

Hyunjin shook her head, like she was saying I know, and held onto Heejin. It was a _see you soon_; one that hurt, but one that was necessary. A _see you soon_ that felt more like goodbye.

"I'll see you in two days?" Hyunjin asked, with no intention of letting go, even after she answered her question.

Heejin just nodded against Hyunjin's shoulder, not able to put her thoughts into words in that exact moment. Even in her hold, she was already missing her, and she was sure she would miss her more every second.

She kissed her again, light and calm, the last trace she would have of Hyunjin's lips for the next torturing hours.

[...]

Jinsol had been hiding since the day of the breakup. Her heart ached more with every step she took, wandering and confused even through the school she should know like the palm of her hand. Why? Why did it hurt so much? Why only thinking of her name, picturing her face, the scent of her skin when she still had her in her arms…

Why all of it hurt so much?

And it wasn't just figuratively speaking; it wasn't just emotional. Jinsol felt suffocated - in the literal sense of the word - by thinking of her mistakes and the disaster they had caused. She should have just been honest. She should have just spoken the truth. But now… now it was too late, too late to think about it, and too late to fix it.

There was no correction for that kind of mistake. And Jinsol was pretty sure Jungeun hated her. And to be honest, Jinsol didn't blame her for it. She actually thought she deserved it.

But it didn't stop her from feeling that pulsating pain inside of her. The good memories, all of them were getting away, more distant than ever, and even if Jinsol tried to hold onto them, they were just getting away. Didn't she deserve them? Perhaps not. Perhaps she really didn't.

Jinsol was running away from everything and everyone now. Not even her friends could help her, and so Jinsol ended up growing distant from them. Her grades were dropping, and she wasn't taking care of herself like she used to… everything seemed to continuously cave under her feet in an avalanche, unstoppable. And Jinsol didn't know if it was stupid of not, but she wanted Jungeun back. It was foolish, for sure.

She wandered the halls, shrinking into her hoodie, when she saw her walking, distracted. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt the air being sucked from her lungs. The girl seemed fine, certainly better than Jinsol after the breakup.

She dropped her gaze down, hiding even more, avoiding Jungeun's stare as soon as it came. She hated herself for not being able to even look at her in the eye, and she felt a sharp pang in her nose as her eyes started watering. She walked faster, her only goal being to leave the place as fast as possible.

[...]

Hyunjin decided the most logical course of action was to help Jinsol leave the wormhole she was currently drowning deep into. She would have all the time in the world to do it, too; since Heejin would be gone for the days to come. Hyunjin was actually beginning to regret not taking her to the airport personally, but she would just have to overcome that missed opportunity, since Heejin was probably already up in the air by now.

After class, she made sure to make a beeline toward Jinsol's apartment. She wished she had left the gates with her, but the girl seemed determined to keep her human interaction level to a minimum. In Hyunjin's favor, however, was that she had a key to Jinsol's apartment in case of any situations. And this was quite a situation.

She allowed herself in without warning, unhappy with the current state of the place. Everything seemed to be thrown in the ground purposefully; the sofa cushions weren't in any visible place, and Hyunjin thought the blender on the counter just had to have a lid hidden somewhere.

Hyunjin entered Jinsol's room, gently knocking on the open door.

"Hey." She said, a semblance of a smile on her face, getting closer to Jinsol who was curled up in a ball and covered with a blanket, lying on the bed with her back facing the door.

"Hey.." Jinsol muttered with no enthusiasm whatsoever, turning and lifting her eyes to look at Hyunjin.

"I'm not gonna ask how are you 'cause that's stupid." Hyunjin sat at the corner of the bed, hoping she didn't have to do so much convincing as she thought.

"Smart."

She waited a little more, in silence, knowing Jinsol would ask it soon. And it didn't take long.

"How… how is she?"

Hyunjin let a weak burst of laughter leave her mouth, and shrugged.

"Keeping appearances, I think. At least she's decent enough to pretend she's okay."

"Well, I don't know how she does it."

She detected the high level of bitterness in her friend's voice, but she was sure Jinsol didn't mean it.

"You know, she's as broken as you are, Jinsol." And that was true. Hyunjin was sure of it. She liked Jungeun, and she knew her. And Hyunjin saw how much she loved Jinsol. That kind of affection didn't just disappear like that.

"She is? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." As much as Jinsol's bitter sarcasm irritated her, she knew it wasn't good to get riled up. "You know nothing broke you apart before this. So why should anything break you apart now?"

Hyunjin noticed this finally got the cogs in Jinsol's brain turning, maybe for the first time. She hoped this was good.

"I know… but it doesn't matter now. She hates me, or something really close, and I'm so sure of this. I just- I just w-want her back, Hyunjin..."

The girl started crying, and this wasn't the first time she was breaking like this, so suddenly. Hyunjin hugged her as strong as she could, trying her best to comfort her.

"I know you do. I know."

Hyunjin wondered, inside her mind, what else could she do.

[...]

It seemed impossible to escape it. It was like the facts were threatening her own existence. How was it possible for something to hurt so much, when it wasn't even her fault? When she had just walked into a room of bad feelings without even knowing?

But Jungeun felt guilty all the same. She tried to pretend she was fine, that she was going to get through it real easy… but it was so hard when Jung Jinsol occupied all the corners of her mind, while simultaneously hiding from her vision at every opportunity.

It was true that Jungeun wanted to hate her, because any person that managed to hurt her to the point of making tears continuously slide down her cheeks with no stop in sight, deserved any and all hate coming their way. But she couldn't hate Jinsol, as much as she tried. Wasn't it beautiful? That constant feeling that something was wrong, and by looking at the spot right beside her, it was empty. No beautiful blonde always following her somewhere.

Jinsol had escaped through her fingers, and it seemed like there was nothing left to do but accept she'd lost her.

Jungeun opened her locker, sighing. She almost managed to put her books on top of that mysterious piece of paper, but she grabbed it, realising it was some kind of letter.

She leaned into the locker after closing it, and opened the letter, not paying much attention to the wax seal that contained the letters C and Y. She started reading, a brief flash of amazement going through her head.

_Dear Jungeun,_

_Before I start explaining what is it, I'll introduce myself first. Well, not exactly. I can't tell you my name, so let's keep it a secret for now. I've been watching you for a while, silently becoming your fan…_

_I know it sounds creepy, but hear me out. I know you probably haven't been feeling happy these past days. I decided to keep you entertained while you figure that out, and maybe this will become an outlet for you. I hope so. I really wish you well, and that things go back to what they were. I don't know if that's possible, but let's keep it a possibility._

_Anyway, I hope you like these letters. I'll make an effort to keep them coming. Oh, and please, don't try to figure my identity out. When I'm ready, I'll tell you myself. Bur for the time being, it's not really important. So, see you next time, and keep an eye out for anything that makes you smile._

_Sending you the best wishes,_

_CY._

Jungeun sighed again, her curiosity getting higher and higher. She looked around, but there were so many students talking and storing their things back in their lockers, that she had no idea of who that could be. She didn't even know if the person had the same age as her. It really could be anyone inside that school.

However, as CY stated, their identity wasn't really important.

But the idea of having someone to talk to - as much as it wasn't really talking, per se - really relieved her. Because all Jungeun wanted to do was scream at the top of her lungs and have someone hear her out.

And if it would help to get Jinsol out of her head, then so be it.

[...]

When her plane landed in Lyon, it was late at night and the climate was nice and warm along with the breeze, which Heejin only felt when she left the airport along with some other design students and the design teacher. They would all stay in a hotel near the event, also paid by the school. They would also have an extra day to walk around the city and enjoy the stay.

As amazing as it seemed, Heejin wasn't really thinking about the fashion event. Actually, the only thing in her mind was Kim Hyunjin. Even during the van trip to the hotel, ending up in a comfortable bed in the hotel room, Hyunjin was the only name spinning in her head.

She was bored, mindlessly calculating the difference in time. It was six AM in Seoul? Saturday? Was Hyunjin even awake? Would she even hear a call, or a message?

But Heejin didn't have to think about it too much, because the way she missed Hyunjin, the girl probably missed her just as much, if not double. Her phone started going crazy, and a smile illuminated Heejin's face. She answered the call, not able to control her own expression.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Heejin asked, in candid irony, since she herself should be resting for the event occurring the next day.

"_I couldn't sleep. I'm too worried about Jinsol. I visited her yesterday and stuck around. Trying to make her eat enough so she doesn't get sick._"

Heejin had forgot completely about the situation. It wasn't an easy thing to admit, but she felt like a terrible friend for not trying to comfort Jungeun after what had happened, seeing Hyunjin was doing such a good job in that front.

"She's not feeling too good, is she?"

"_No..._" Hyunjin's tone was of a beaten down person, which made Heejin feel even worse. "_None of them are_."

"I'll talk to her… to Jungeun, I mean. Fuck, I didn't even think of asking when I said goodbye to her..."

"_It's okay, Heejin. It's not your fault_."

Heejin sighed, trying hard to believe in Hyunjin.

"_And what about you? Was the flight okay?_" The girl had a concerned tone on, this time. It was sweet.

"It was okay, not that bad, really.. the peanuts were the best part, actually."

Hyunjin laughed at the answer, and Heejin's heart somersaulted inside her chest. Even just her laughter made her feel on cloud nine, like she was flying.

She didn't need a plane for that.

"_Bring some for me, please._"

They remained in comfortable silence, until Heejin decided to break it herself, still feeling a little shy when she remembered the time they had spent on Hyunjin's house.

"Hyunjin..."

"_Mhm?_"

She didn't know the perfect way to say it without sounding way too sentimental, but in the end, Heejin didn't care about that. It was what she was feeling anyway, so, if it sounded sentimental, whatever.

"I really miss you."

"_I miss you too, Heejin. I really do. I hope you have fun and come back home to tell me everything._"

Heejin smiled, nodding with her head.

"I will. I promise you."

"_Good. I'll try to get some sleep now- I'll keep an eye on Jinsol and Jungeun, too. Good night, Heejin_."

"Good morning, Hyunjin." She said, a small smile still on her face, and Hyunjin laughed again. "I love you."

"_I love you too._" And with a beep, Hyunjin got off the phone, leaving Heejin in her hotel room, alone with her thoughts.

But it was okay. They were all good thoughts, and when she finally fell asleep, it was Hyunjin she was still thinking about.

[...]

Jungeun waited anxiously for CY's next letter. She didn't know exactly the reason why, but their words comforted her immensely in those chaotic times where everything she did was roll awake in her bed, Jinsol's confusing words echoing in her mind. And when she fell asleep, she never dreamed. There were just disconnected nightmares that made her sleep an experience she didn't wish on anyone.

She opened her locker, the anxiety making her hands shiver, and smiled after spotting the piece of paper there, at the edge of her locker, just resting against the steel. She grabbed it, ripping the seal open, the scarlet CY shining against the hall lights.

_Dear Jungeun,_

_I hope my letters are of some help. I try to write them by the mounds so you can always have a little something to brighten your day some. Obviously, inspiration is a fickle thing, and I can't always pen something up that's really… good, but I guess that's life._

_Life imitates art, you know? And art just kinda takes a piece of like and mixes it in with some other weird stuff, and that turns into more art. That's just a metaphor to say art is life mixed in with more art, I guess. That's a bit poetic if you ask me. Maybe it's a tiny bit eccentric, too. But what would life be without some of that?_

_I'll give you the answer right now, Jungeun. Nothing. We need that balance between sweet and salty. Romeo and Juliet, you know? Key lime pie, because that's a good example too. There's always a balance between tart and not so tart, between life and death. A kind of love that only happens once in a lifetime, and it ends in tragedy._

_But maybe I'm not helping you too much by mentioning tragedies. So let's remember the good moments. The moments where you, yourself, can't stop smiling, and that person's smile is spinning in your head, and it makes you act a fool around them. I guess this doesn't help a lot either… I'm sorry if I made you remember things you thought you forgot._

_But sometimes it's okay to remember them. Even if things are over, what's the point in remembering the bad stuff? It's the thing that causes pain, right? So let's remember the things that cause joy, the things that bring you back. And even if it's over, you know it filled you with good memories._

_I'm sorry if I'm making you cry. If the paper gets all wet and blurry, that's okay. It's another memory for you to remember._

_This is getting a little long now. So I say goodbye._

_Wishing you all the best,_

_CY._

And the worst thing was, Jungeun only realised she was crying when she finished the letter. How would she not have cried? CY had just made her remember one day in particular, the day where Jungeun and Jinsol had left the party, and walked back to her apartment.

Everything was simple, but a really nice simple, which looked like Jinsol in every accent, every corner. The blonde girl had taken Jungeun in an exaggerated tour, making jokes every two seconds, stealing kisses from her and spinning her around, and Jungeun remembered feeling mesmerized every step of the way.

She could feel the necklace around her neck with every motion she took, and smiled when she saw the exact copy around Jinsol. That entire day had been perfect, if she was being honest, and even now when Jungeun wasn't wearing that necklace any longer, she still had it close to her, right next to her bed.

Jungeun hoped Jinsol was okay, even if she herself was not. And so, she tried to escape the memories that insisted on breaking on top of her like waves, impossible to predict.

[...]

When Hyunjin hung up the phone, her heart was still beating loud. Heejin said she loved her. Just thinking about seconds ago made Hyunjin want to scream out loud; and people who knew Hyunjin, also knew she was that kind of person.

She really was in love. Hyunjin thought it was funny to think about it, thinking she didn't even know the exact definition of being in love. But she also thought, the discovery of that happened around now.

However, she couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened if her feelings for Heejin weren't returned in the first place. Would it hurt as much as the pain Jinsol was feeling right now? Would it be different? Something like it? Hyunjin had no clue, and she preferred it that way.

She looked at her friend, who was still asleep. Hyunjin thought about waking her up, but decided against it. After all, maybe that was the only moment when Jinsol could get some peace of mind.

Hyunjin got up from the other bed, and sighed. She thought it was really weird not having Heejin around, particularly when things were this confusing and chaotic. She hoped everything could be solved soon.

Because, wrong like this, things just didn't make sense.

[...]

Jinsol was very thankful to Hyunjin for taking care of her these past few days. She wasn't sure she would have managed to do it alone, after all, she still felt like a mess of feelings from head to toe.

She knew quite well that things couldn't go on like this. She had to do something, or die trying, even if nothing happened. She needed to tell Jungeun that she was wrong, that she still loved her as much as she loved her in the past, she needed to tell her the truth. But Jinsol had no idea how, or when. If she was being honest, she wasn't even sure she could look her in the eyes for more than two seconds.

Jinsol couldn't stay a coward like this.

She got up from her bed, being cautious to not wake Hyunjin up, who had finally fallen asleep. Jinsol took a quick shower and got ready, a simple white tee and light blue jeans. With nothing in her pockets but her phone and keys, she left the apartment leaving Hyunjin a note that said she was going to get some ice cream.

The thing Jinsol didn't say was that the ice cream parlor was the one close to Jungeun's house, but she was sure Hyunjin would connect the dots.

Jinsol walked through the streets with her nerves on an all time high. The necklace under her shirt only made her even more nervous, because it was another reminder of all the memories. But she wouldn't take it off, no way.

She considered going all the way back when Jungeun's house came into sight, but Jinsol swallowed her pride, or at least, tried, and went up the stairs one by one. She knocked on the door, expecting the worst.

Jungeun's mother greeted her with a smile.

"Jinsol! Honey! Jungeun never said you were visiting. Won't you come on in so I can bring her?"

Jinsol considered the offer for a moment, but shook her head.

"No, no, it's okay, Ms. Kim. Can you just… tell her to meet me outside?"

"Oh, of course! Just a moment."

Jinsol waited, closer to the steps as they gave her a tiny bit of comfort, but her nerves kept getting stronger and stronger. When she heard the door swing open again, Jinsol couldn't help but feel really afraid to turn around. But her instincts betrayed her, and the air was sucked from her lungs again.

She tried not to look too blown away as Jungeun approached, a confused but unfriendly expression on her face. Jinsol had the gut feeling that she needed to get away quickly, but there was no time for that.

"What are you doing here?" Jungeun asked, low but certainly rude enough to make Jinsol back up a step. It was like a sharp slap on the face, except Jungeun hadn't touched her at all.

"I-I..." Jinsol seemed to have lost the ability to speak or process words. Jungeun's strong and cold stare didn't help either. She had to take a breath, and look down. "I need to talk to you."

"Talk." Jungeun raised her eyebrows, questioning. "Didn't you say enough?"

"Jungeun, please. Just… walk with me for a minute. I swear- I'm not gonna waste your time."

The girl sighed, but nodded silently.

They walked down the stairs, and Jinsol shivered just knowing Jungeun was close by. She had no idea how to start. But she didn't have to.

"Did you kiss her, or did she kiss you?"

She stopped dead in her tracks, frozen. How did she know? How did…

"Answer me, Jinsol."

Jinsol swallowed, but there was virtually nothing in her throat. "S-she did. I… I didn't even know it was her, but it wasn't you. It wasn't you, so-so I pushed her away and I ran. Jungeun, I-I was scared to death. I didn't.. I didn't know how to tell you, and it killed me. It was killing me until now. Please believe me."

Jungeun stared at her for what seemed like a thousand years, her arms crossed. She didn't seem convinced at all. Jinsol was about to kneel down when she sighed, covering her face with her hands.

"Jinsol, I… I believe you. And I- I still care about you, a lot. But I need time… to think… and I can't..."

"I'm sorry." Jinsol repeated one last time, because it was what she felt. But at the same time, it just seemed too late, and Jungeun's words were echoing in her mind. _Time… to think… think about what?_

"Goodbye, Jinsol."

The girl left without looking back.

And everything Jinsol could do was watch her leave, and think everything time ever did was hurt her, because it kept doing so.

It was certainly possible for your heart to break twice. After all, hers had been broken a second time just seconds ago.

[...]

The fashion event was the most confusing, but refreshing experience of her life, or so Heejin thought. It was so amazing just sitting there and watching piece after piece being showcased in such grandeur. She didn't understand it fully, and it just seemed really cool to her.

Heejin liked to think. All things considered, you can't know for sure the ideas in a designer's head while they were making that piece, but you can try to picture it. And it was just as fun as knowing for real.

It was funny watching all these models do the catwalk with absolutely no expression on their faces, though. It was like they just, didn't know. She wondered what the hell did they think of all of that.

Heejin contained a burst of laughter, and sighed. Although her impressions of Lyon so far had been the best possible, she was really really missing home. She was missing Hyunjin the most. Heejin couldn't wait for the flight, and of course the peanuts.

She also, really needed to talk to Jungeun. She couldn't shake the feeling that the girl needed her help. Heejin should have been there.

But she was in Lyon.

Heejin looked up from the bed, checking the hours. They would soon be at the airport, and after all that, at the gate. A couple hours longer, and Heejin would be safe and sound at home, near the people she liked the most.

Soon, the teacher knocked on her door, warning her that it was time to go. With a lot of memories from Lyon stored in her mind, and the promise that she would return some day, Heejin left dragging her suitcase behind her. She felt… happy. She couldn't remember a time before that, before Hyunjin, before her real friends, where she had felt as happy as now. It was just really wonderful to think about everything, and how her life had changed.

They checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport, but the feeling never left Heejin.

[...]

Jungeun wasn't lying when she told Jinsol she needed time to think. But it wasn't exactly clear what she needed to think about, even as past events never left her head for a second. She needed, really, to think about CY's last letter.

She read and re-read the letter so many times, the paper was all wrinkled and folded over and over so it could fit in her pocket. Jungeun had practically memorized the contents of it, word by word.

Jungeun grabbed the piece of paper again, and sighed.

_Dear Jungeun,_

_I'm afraid this is my last letter to you. This doesn't mean I don't want to write you anymore, absolutely not - stopping this wouldn't ever enter my thoughts, not even if I wanted to._

_But I'm also afraid that I have to tell you some things, or else, I'll feel way too guilty about it. And after I reveal these new pieces of information to you, it's gonna get way too hard for me to stay away from the situation as it unfolds. I'm too close to this, and I wish I wasn't. I don't want to influence your decisions in any way, so this is the only proper way to really do this._

_You can choose to not believe me, as my sources are, really, not the brightest, I'm afraid. But I feel like they're telling the truth, and I'm coming to think you'll believe them too._

_They first saw them talking, although, not really seeing each other. Because one of them was blindfolded, and the other seemed nervous, and looked around way too much for it to be trustworthy. And in the end, she really wasn't. They walked and walked, and my sources followed them as best as they could, keeping quiet as they trailed the two. They suddenly entered this room, and my sources had to silently peek through the glass part to see what was going on._

_It happened all too quick. Suddenly they were kissing, but it wasn't an enjoyable kiss, as we were going to find out. One pushed the other away, and shouted at her. She was obviously mad, really mad. Then, she left the room, and started crying, just right away. It was pretty readable, what had happened. It was a con situation, sadly._

_And that's all I really know, Jungeun. You can now realise what I meant by being too close. I really wish I could help further, give you some sort of closure. But I really don't know what else I could do. I promise I'll write you again, some day, and I'll reveal my name too. But for now, I say goodbye to you, and wish you luck._

_Wishing you the best,_

_CY._

Jungeun had taken awhile to get used to that information.

"That was what she was trying to tell me. That was it." And she kept muttering the same sentence that was it, that was it around the hallways, a fixation even her found irritating. But she couldn't get around it. It was so… dumb! Why was it so dumb? Why couldn't it be just a little more complicated that that?

But Jungeun knew why. Jinsol… Jinsol was dumb. Under that dumb smile and that blasé confidence that was stronger than steel, Jinsol was insecure (and dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb…). Jungeun knew that well, too. Actually, she started hating herself for knowing so much about her, so much that no word would go away without it being somehow associated with Jinsol.

She loved her too much to even be able to handle it, and even after asking for time, on that particular day, Jungeun knew and trusted that she would continue loving her.

Jinsol was dumb. But maybe Jungeun was even dumber, for falling in love with her.

[...]

Hyunjin tried rubbing her arms to get rid of the cold as she waited on the disembarkment spot, knowing Heejin's plane had already landed. She was just unbelievably nervous to see the girl again, even though it had only been a little while.

She paced through the marble flooring of the airport, clutching a rose wrapped in paper between her fingers. Her heart started beating rapidly when she finally spotted Heejin walking through the doors, smiling wide when Heejin spotted her back.

They didn't need much words; Heejin just ran, crashing against Hyunjin in a strong hug, letting her lift her into the air and spin her around.

"I missed you." Heejin muttered, still very much koala'd in Hyunjin's arms, not wanting to let go.

"I missed you too." Hyunjin didn't want to let go either.

"I'm sorry I took a while, I was saying goodbye to everyone.." Heejin finally let go, but now instead she was holding onto Hyunjin's gaze. "Is that for me?" She looked at the rose, still being incapable of stopping the smile on her face.

"Yeah, of course!" Hyunjin gave her the rose, taking Heejin's luggage for her on one hand and the girl's hand on the other. "Come on, Sooyoung went to find a parking spot and we shouldn't keep her waiting."

They walked alongside each other, looking more and more like a couple to any outsiders looking in.

"So, how was it? Did you have fun?" Hyunjin was pressing her shoulder against Heejin's own, knowing that she was dying to do so much more than that.

"It was really great. I'm glad that you made me go. Oh, I even brought you this." Heejin reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny packet of salted peanuts, handing them to her girlfriend.

"Aww, you remembered? I love you."

Hyunjin kissed her rather quickly on the cheek, and it made Heejin's heart race more than it already was.

They finally found their way into the parking lot of the airport, and it was obviously chaotic and packed with vehicles.

"Just look for the Subarus, we'll find her eventually." Hyunjin remarked, earning a bark of laughter from Heejin.

Turns out, there weren't many Subarus in the parking lot, and they managed to find a bored-looking Sooyoung leaning on the back of the car, waiting.

"There you are. I thought you would never find me." Sooyoung grunted, opening the trunk of the car and helping Hyunjin with the luggage.

"It wasn't that hard. Right, Heejin?"

"Yeah, it was okay. Thanks for picking me up, by the way. You're the best, Sooyoung." Heejin gave the girl a hug, which warmed her up and made her a little less grumpy.

"You're welcome. Now let's go, it's really cold and late."

They got inside the car, and Sooyoung immediately set up a playlist, with Dance to This blasting on the speakers as they entered the freeway. It felt like such a freeing moment for all of them; just unapologetically jamming together, the windows down just for the adrenaline.

Heejin kissed Hyunjin, feeling all too unrestricted and alive, but surprised when she noticed the girl didn't stop it as early as they usually would. The things she was feeling inside, her heart, her chest, her stomach, they were all over the place and hard to describe. But she knew they were positive, as much as they reminded her and were so similar to bad feelings. Because the thing was, Heejin realised all those feelings were just kinda similar, because they were real in the first place.

And she was really happy she was feeling them.

[...]

Jungeun was sitting in her chair, quietly scribbling down notes when a ruckus started. It looked like the scene of a movie, where all of the students would turn on their inner Curious George and approach the windows, trying to see what was going on. As a naturally curious person, Jungeun also ended getting up from her chair and following the crowd through the hallways.

They got to what seemed like the middle of the cafeteria, and it was hard to see exactly what was going on with all the people crowded in the place. When she finally managed to push her way into the midst of the chaos, Jungeun's entire body was frozen. It was, of course, Jinsol, on top of a table, High School Musical style. She had with her, for some reason, a sound system and a real microphone this time.

Jungeun was starting to sense a pattern.

"Hey, folks. I know most of you were at the party when I asked Jungeun to be my girlfriend, so I'll spare some details." People hyped Jinsol to continue, all of them looking up and marveling at the situation. "So, yeah. We, uh, we had some issues recently- and I regret them, deeply..."

She could see the girl was broken, although she was trying hard to mask it.

"I know those issues were all because of me." Jinsol started looking at her, and only her. "I just.. I just need one chance. Just one to prove something like that is not going to happen again. To prove I love you so much, that I'm crazy about you and you're the most beautiful thing that's ever happened to me."

Jinsol finally got down from the table, approaching Jungeun with cautious steps. She could see now, that her eyes were glimmering with tears. That was when Jungeun could finally remember, and notice again, how many stars she could see in Jinsol's eyes.

"Kim Jungeun, will you be my girlfriend once again?"

And that was when Jungeun had always known what she was going to say.

[...]

Jungeun woke up confused, and for a moment, she thought she had been kidnapped, because she at first did not recognize where the hell she was. But then, she took a second general look around, and finally realised why she was confused in the first place.

The place was organized, much different than when she had visited it, back when she thought would be the last time. When she took a glance beside her, Jungeun saw what was clearly Jinsol's naked back, with her head facing her and eyes peacefully closed, a calm expression overall.

Jungeun smiled, remembering last night. And looking at Jinsol, she knew she did not, for a second, regret saying yes. She slid a finger down her shoulder, tracing the gorgeous lines of her back, feeling her slowly stir awake under her touch.

And of course she was smiling too.

"What time is it?" Jinsol pulled Jungeun closer to her, snaking her arms around her waist and kissing her shoulder again and again.

"I have absolutely no clue."

Jinsol laughed, kissing her cheek, squeezing her harder. She needed to, in order to be sure that it was real and she wasn't just dreaming of it.

Jungeun looked at her, a small smile on her lips. She took Jinsol's face in her hands, staring deep into her eyes.

"It wasn't a dream, just so you know."

"Are you sure?"

Jungeun nodded, smiling. She leaned forward and kissed her, a slow kind of kiss that would surely convince, and maybe kill her softly, too.

"I love you." Jinsol smiled. "You know that, right?"

"I do." Jungeun was still holding her face, and she wasn't about to stop either. She loved Jinsol, and loved the way her eyes shined when she looked at her. "I love you."

They kissed again, and again. There wasn't much that could happen that would make them stop.

[...]

The magic… you know what, let's stop that. They were finally back at the same table, looking at each other in silence.

"So I should just leave you alone for you two to get back together." Hyunjin muttered, sipping her coffee slowly while she gave Jinsol the death stare. The girl, however, was incapable of doing anything but smiling.

"That was- uh, just a coincidence." Jinsol felt the back of her neck on fire, scratching it with the hand that wasn't holding Jungeun's own.

"So you finally waking the hell up is a coincidence? Uh huh, sounds about right."

"I'm happy you're back together." Heejin smiled, rubbing Hyunjin's shoulder so she would stop being cranky.

"Oh hey, look who's here!" Sooyoung finally joined the table, accompanied by her own girlfriend, Jiwoo. "Are you guys finally gonna tell me what happened?"

"It's too long of a story." Jungeun waved at her to drop it, which she was surprisingly glad to do.

"There's one thing that we finally have an answer to," Jinsol started, but didn't finish right away.

They all stared at her, patiently waiting.

"Teacher Park and Director Kim left the school to get married."

Jinsol was still laughing as everyone stared away, to an invisible camera, like it was The Office.

**Author's Note:**

> if you read all the way through in one sitting, you're the best and I love you.
> 
> thanks for reading!
> 
> and if you enjoyed it a lot, send me your thoughts. twitter is @messykyla and curiouscat is the same name.
> 
> thanks again :D


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